Behind Closed Doors
by WillWiththeSkill
Summary: Suits, High Heels and Secrets. Let's see what happens with two people meet behind closed doors...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New story, yaaay! I have this one mostly written up so I'm going to post twice a week, and also start rewriting Severed Hearts because I want to revive that story sometime soon... Anyway, on to new adventures!**

She was strong, she was brave, she was confident and she was tons of other things that she did not feel like at that moment in time. Fiddling with her newly cleaned and pressed suit jacket, she tucked a stray blonde curl back into her bun after noticing it had escaped. This was her big break, what she had been waiting for and nothing was going to stand between her and the job! Not even She Who Would Not Be Named! With the determination rubbing it in her face if she ever ran into the woman again brought, she did one last once over before leaving the women's bathroom and making her way to the elevator. With her red leather (probably fake leather if she were being completely honest) heels clicking against the marble floor and echoing against the walls made of the same cold stone, her confidence remained strong. After arriving at the elevator she allowed herself to let go of her purse long enough to push down on the up button, it lighting up bright orange after making a click sound.

Standing there waiting for the elevator gave her the opportunity to take the building she had been in for more than ten minutes. She noticed the assumed carved ceiling and almost felt her eyes roll. It was an office building, not a house where you had time to appreciate such details. The elevator dinged getting her attention, and the elevators slowly inched apart, screeching each time the wheels spun. Stepping into the elevator proved to be a challenge, but a businessman who seemed to not have time for her to stand there staring at the handrail forced her to hurry inside, mumbling an apology of sorts under her breath once standing a good distance away from him. "What floor?"

"Fortieth." The man pressed the button for her floor, her ocean blue eyes found a nice pattern in the marble to stare at on the ride. Thankfully the man was in too big of hurry to say goodbye, but she didn't mind.

It took another minute or so to make it to her floor, but once she was there she hurried towards the room she was told to meet him in. To her fear, when she pushed on the door it wouldn't budge... So naturally she lightly knocked resulting in the door opening rather abruptly causing her to jump. "Are you here for the interview?"

"Y-yes. I'm-"

"Come in." The rather overpowering man stepped to the side allowing her to come in, which she gladly did since it felt like someone was staring at her. "You will have ten minutes and in those ten minuets you will convince me to hire you." He motioned at a black leather chair in front of his desk for her to sit on, and she accepted in hopes of not being rude.

"Thank you." She set her purse in her lap, her thumb nail pressing into the leather for comfort. "My name is Christine Daae, I graduated with a four point o GPA, I have a major in graphic design and a minor in business and economics. Here is my portfolio, I've done work for several small business here in the city and they've been more than pleased with my work." The man, who she now was able to see wearing a mask, took the leather binder from her and flipped it open. Not wanting to stare she looked at the lamp on his desk. "I was in several clubs throughout highschool and college-"

"What do those have to do with this job?" Her eyes shot up to his face and she tried looking anywhere but his mask, and thankfully he didn't look up from her portfolio till she had settled on his eyes... His eyes... She was momentarily stunned at the color of them. They were a blue that put cartoon princes to shame.

"I- I'm not sure. Nothing I guess."

"Then do not waste your time talking about the debate team." He shut the book and set it down on his desk, and she tried figuring out what to say. "Tell me about your family life." That even stunned the man if he was being completely honest. He never assisted interviewee's with what to talk about. Something about her dear eyed face that made him want to see her do good.

"Why?" Christine knew that definitely had nothing to do with the job!

"Stability. I need to know there's a slim chance that you will bring your family problems here. This is a professional company and I don't expect any chit chat around the water cooler about how your dog ate a bird the other day."

He had a somewhat understandable reason... "My parents are dead and I don't have any siblings. I'm engaged to a lawyer that I met in highschool and we only have a fish named Dolphin... So I guess I have no drama in the aspect of family and my relationship is stable."

"My condolences." Christine gave him a nod as she noted some change in his mood. "Out of genuine curiosity, where is your ring?" Christine looked down at her fingers and felt her cheeks gain a rosey hue.

"I didn't think wearing it would be professional." She scolded herself since it sounded stupid out loud and with the amusement he he had on half his face she knew it was.

"Christine my dear girl, being engaged does not affect your work. I mean it could, but wearing the ring? If you get the job feel free to wear it since despite the rumors happiness is allowed in this company. Just no phone calls to them while you're working." During all that he had moved to behind his chair, and he set his hands on the back, giving her a chance to notice his wedding band.

"Is it appropriate to offer my congratulations?"

"Oh this old thing..." He glanced down at the ring. "Going on ten years but I guess it's never too late." Christine then wondered how hold he was. Did he have kids? Condo, apartment or house? Minivan or muscle car? He didn't look horribly old... Muscle car. "We got married when we were twenty." Several of her questions were put to rest, but the children one was still up in the air since he lacked any family photos... His entire room lacked photos and a mirror. What CEO didn't have a mirror in their office?

"Do you have any children? I love children... I wouldn't mind for a couple of my own but that'll probably never happen." She smiled and looked down at her purse. "Sorry too personal. Anyway... I'm excellent in working in groups, excel in working solo and always enjoy a challenge."

"Let me guess, you are a pro at multitasking and handle stressful situations well?" That caused her blush to return and she wished she hasn't put her hair in a bun so she could better hide with it.

Continuing past the parts of her application that she had written down, she resumed her facade of having confidence with good posture and eye contact. "I speak five different languages. Latin, French, German, Swedish and Spanish. I am effect with most computer programs and I only wish to do my best. I will be honest, there will be mistakes but I will be eager to correct them. I live off others people's opinions when it comes to my designing, however I always know when it's right. I'm not perfect, nor am I a genius, but I feel that I'm fully capable of doing this job and more... I just need you to give me the chance."

The room was silent, to her it made her want to scream, for him it made it easier for him to figure out why he didn't kick her out for being so straightforward when the last person who did that left empty handed. "I'll tell you what." Christine let out a heavy sigh of relief as he came back around his desk before leaning against it, his legs seeming longer than before. "I'll call you within a week if you get the job. I like what I see, you're honest and you admit you're not perfect which I appreciate." He picked the blondes way too expensive leather binder up and handed it back to her, and for the first time in days he actually smiled when she meekly took it from him and practically squeaked a thank you to him. "Thank you for your time, Miss Daae." Realizing the interview was over she stood up almost too fast and accepted his hand for a handshake.

"Of course, thank you as well. I'm sure you're a busy man, and taking your time to interview someone as small as me is quite nice of you."

"Well a ship needs all members to function, a business isn't any different. If I want to be successful I have to remember that even the plumber who fixes the toilet every once and a while keeps this company running smoothly."

He noted how when she was embarrassed or shy she would rock on her feet. "Of course. Well thank you again, and I'll be eagerly awaiting your call." Christine kicked herself for being so desperate but she needed the job and money, and boy did this one pay well.

"Have a good day." She hurried out, and after hearing the click of the door she let out another sigh, unknowingly at the same time he did. He was bad with people. Not upfront. He knew how to socialize and act, but they made him anxious. He never once cared if someone liked him, but with her? He had a feeling giving her the job would be a very... very bad idea, and of course he was considering it. He wanted to see her again... at the very least he could call her back to a second interview. The final hurdle so to speak just to get rid of the whatever it was he was feeling for her. Intrigued was definitely- no! What was he doing? He was married for fucks sake he shouldn't be so interested in someone else... but then again a conversation isn't cheating and Maley cannot control who he talks to. Then of course after the inner conflict he realized that all of it was based on the idea that she would want to speak to him again. He noticed the cross eyed attempting to look him in the eyes and not at the mask thing, most people who he interviewed had done the same thing, but with her it didn't bug him... God was wrong with him? He needed to talk to Maley and just forget the long legged blonde hair beauty... and that ass... He shook his head and quickly reached for his phone since he had at least ten minutes before the next applicant.

. x .

"So how was the interview?"

"Oh my God, Raoul you have no idea! He was so intimidating and I practically begged him for the job! Needless to say," Christine sighed while looking down her bottle of beer, "I have to keep looking."

"Well you never know it was probably better than you think."

While continuing the conversation she shifted so her feet were tucked under her butt. "No I was like I can do this and I'm not perfect but I'm willing to learn, just give me a chance to prove it!" She stopped waving her beer around when she nearly hit herself in the head with it. Dangerous things, beer bottles. Her shoulders hunching forward with defeat her forehead found a somewhat comfortable spot on her knee. "Maybe I should just be a stripper."

"You think so?" She nodded, and after her fiancé started rubbing her back she turned her head and looked at him. "You do look good with glitter on." Despite her bad mood she couldn't help but smile at his comment, Raoul always knowing how to cheer her up.

"I was a cheerleader in high school so I'm flexible and I'm strong so like it's a viable option that I am now from this point forward taking into consideration."

"Well thank you for letting me know that you're considering becoming a stripper. That's very kind of you."

"Oh you know me," Christine stood up and picked the shorts out of her butt rather unattractively as she moved into the kitchen to find something to snack on. "I make Saint Jude look like a sinner." She opened the fridge and began her hunt for snack food.

"Speaking of that." Her heart jumped when she felt his arms wrap around her, and she melted into his arms as Raoul kissed her neck. "Maybe I can make you forget about that bad interview?" The promise Christine had made to her mom popped into mind giving her the will power to move out of his hold.

"You know I want to wait till we get married."

"Why? Because you think God is going to be mad at you? Christine-" she pulled an apple out of the fruit drawer as Raoul continued on. "He doesn't care. He likes love and happiness and all of that, so why would you think he thinks otherwise?"

"This isn't about God and you know that." She shut the door and took a bite out of the orange and red apple, the name of it being a mystery. "I promised my mom I'd wait for marriage for her sake and I'm so close to keeping that promise, can't we just wait till April? We're six months away and then I'll happily have sex with you but for now I can't break the last promise I have with my mom." She stopped walking when she was at the framed picture of her mother and herself at Central Park for her fifteenth birthday, the day still fresh in her memory. "Please respect that." She took another bite of the apple then sat down on the couch.

"You're right and I'm sorry." She heard his somewhat lazy footsteps dragging across the wood floor as he made his way back to the couch. "I shouldn't of suggested it." She moved up on the cushion when he sat down causing her to go up, and he found a comfortable spot around her shoulders. "I love you, baby." With a kiss to her temple, he prepared for the next six months of torture that was worth it if it meant spending his life with her.

. x .

"So your call was a pleasant surprise for me today. Usually when you're at work the last thing you want to do is chat with me."

"Well what can I say? I missed you too much to wait till tonight." Erik kissed her brunette haired head on his way to the pantry so he could get the new jar of dill pickles out. "So I was thinking..." He stepped out of the pantry and his wife eyed him suspiciously. Him vocalizing that he had been thinking was never a good thing. "Maybe we could revisit the idea of having kids?" He wasn't too surprised when she set the cheese knife down and turned so she was fully facing him.

"You know I don't want kids. We talked about this before we got married and you said you were fine with that."

"Yeah I am... I just thought that maybe the ten years and maturing a bit changed your mind." She smiled sympathetically and he noticed how the corner of her eyes crinkled up like they did when she was forcing a smile. So, like a scolded puppy he left the kitchen with his tail between his legs. It wasn't often that he was disappointed, and he didn't mind it, but he noticed more and more whenever he was it was because of Maley. Children had long ago been pushed to the back of his mind, but Miss Daae pulled them back up front, and something he was alright with ten years ago was slowly starting to bug him present day. Children, he understood were not for everyone and sometimes even he didn't want them, but he was nearing the end of his prime years and sooner or later wouldn't be able to have kids. He wanted to leave something behind on this Earth, not just a company but something more, and that more was kids, but he of course had no plans to push the subject with her again. If after ten years she was still against the idea of children that was one thing she wasn't going to change her mind on.

Which explained why he worked so much. The more time he spent with her as he got older the more he questioned whether marrying her was a good decision which led to thinking about how he felt about her which lead to looking up a divorce lawyer then he remembered he'd never find someone else who tolerated his ugly ass. Then he gave up and learned how to tolerate her inability to grow up and realize there's more than vacationing and partying once again. He made his bed and now he got to lay in it... Rather unhappily.


	2. Chapter 2

"Christine someone's calling, and asking for you." She couldn't even go pee first thing in the morning without being bugged.

"Are you kidding me? It's six thirty in the morning! Can't- fine." She was too tired to yell. "Could you find out who it is?" That gave her time to like y'know... pee.

She heard mumbling before she was interrupted again. "It's Erik Dessin? Who's that?" She quickly washed her hands, and dried her hands off on her New England Patriots oversized jersey before leaving the bathroom. She took the phone from Raoul while heading to the family room, and she tried not to sound too winded from the hurrying.

"Hello? Hi sorry I couldn't pick the phone up. How can help you?" She punched herself when she sounded far too aggressive.

"Miss Daae, surely you haven't forgotten the name of your potential employer."

"Oh of course, sorry I haven't had my tea yet. It's rather early." She rubbed her face as she tried to ignore how beautiful his voice was.

"No apologies needed. So Miss Daae, are you interested in a second interview? A final hurdle so to speak. After that I will determine who I plan to hire. There was a larger turn out for the job than planned so this is new." If it meant hearing him say her name again she'd do five more final interviews.

"Of course I would love to have a second interview! When do you want me there?" She went to nibble on her nail, but stopped when she realized what she was doing.

"Would today at four work? I have several others and a meeting planned for today so that's the soonest, but I also am planning to do this for the rest of the week."

"I'm actually babysitting my fiancés nephew today, is tomorrow okay?"

He wasn't sure what he was thinking when he opened his big stupid mouth. "Bring him, that's fine. Tomorrow I'm not available until late. Like eight or nine and I'm not going to take you away from your fiancé."

"Oh- okay just don't hold him against me. He can be a handful."

"Wouldn't expect any less from kids. So I'll see you today at four, Miss Daae."

"Please call me Christine, unless that's how you address everyone then Miss Daae works..."

"Of course, Christine. I'll see you later today, have a good morning."

"You as well." She hung the phone up and shut her eyes. It was far too early for intimidating people who made her name sound pretty.

"Who was that?"

"Second interview." She held her phone up before setting it down on the wood countertop in the kitchen, then she started on her tea.

"Oh well congrats baby. Hopefully you get the job so the world can see your talent." Raoul pulled her away from her tea and she frowned, but it quickly turned into a smile when he took her lips with his, but she remembered she needed to brush her teeth so she lightly pushed against his chest to stop the kiss. "I've held your hair when you had a hang over, morning breath is nothing."

"Well it is to me, so the kissing shall resume once my tea is ingested and my breath smells like I licked a mints asshole."

"Well that wasn't an image I expected to have in my head this morning but y'know." He kissed her forehead since he hoped she'd allow that, and moved to the fridge to start on breakfast.

. x .

"Now listen Todd, this is very important and I need you to behave. If you do I'll introduce you to ice cream since your mom won't." Christine was using the mirror on the elevator wall to reapply her cherry red lipstick, and give everything else a quick once over.

"Ice cream?" Thankfully that got the kids attention because boy was Christine nervous. Just last week she had been just as nervous walking into the same exact office.

"Yea. You have to be quiet though, because this is for a job."

"You got a deal." The kid was six and he was talking like he was a mobster. Christine blamed the Godfather. His stupid mom wouldn't let him have frozen yogurt but let him watch rated R movies. That was something she'd never understand. The elevator rolled to a stop, then the doors creaked open. She guided Todd over to the large, intimidating wooden door by his head, and as she raised her fist to knock on the door that was like a wood version of her potential boss, the door opened. She quickly moved her and Todd out of the way, and watched her potential boss shake hands with an older woman with a brief case. She didn't get the job. The woman looked so much more experienced than her. Fuck.

"Thank you for your time Miss Jeck. I look forward to working with you in court." Court? She still had a chance! Yes!

"Likewise Mister Dessin. Give me a call if you have any questions." He nodded, and once the assumed lawyer walked away he sighed and unhooked his jacket. "Christine, c'mon in." She hurried Todd into his office and sat him down in the corner with his video game, she was old and didn't know what it was specifically.

"Remember. All the sugary dairy in the world if you keep the volume off and remain quiet. I'll even throw Skittles into the mix." The kid nodded and turned the volume off before turning the hand held on assuring her he was fully compliant. She turned and smiled at the black haired man. "Mister Dessin-"

"If I'm calling you Christine you're calling me Erik."

"Of course, Erik. I would like to thank you for this opportunity and your consideration before we proceed. I'm eternally thankful and I hope that I'm the one you end up picking. I believe I will be a valuable asset to your marketing team-"

"The kids never had Skittles?" The question caught Christine off guard, but he seemed more interested in Todd than her.

"No. His mother is uh... Yeah."

"She's crazy." Christine's head whipped around and she sent a glare to the young man, who remembered the deal and quickly silenced himself.

"That's a shame." She watched the man open a drawer up and pull a small fun size bag of Skittles out and toss them over at her nephew. "She won't believe you if you tell her a multi-millionaire gave you a fun size bag of Skittles." The smile on Todd's face outweighed Christine's wanting to be the cool aunt.

"Say thank you, Todd."

"Thank you, Mister!" He yanked the bag open and the kids pupils widened when he crunched down on the first Skittle of his short life.

"Thank you, Erik that was nice of you. For someone who wants a professional work environment you sure are unprofessional and personal."

"I'm the boss. Just because I make the rules doesn't mean I follow them." The smirk he created made her want to smack him, but she figured that would definitely ruin her chances for the job. "Oh by the way you have the job." He was hoping to nip his bad thoughts in the bud and up until he told her she had the job it was his plan, but once it was out there he was unable to take it back... Which was a problem because he really did have more final interviews to endure all to see her again.

"Wait what? I thought this was a final interview..." She scratched her head and he started to wonder what her hair felt like, but then he caught a glimpse of her engagement ring and he quickly scolded himself. She was happily in a relationship and he definitely wasn't even going to imagine pursuing the woman... No matter how much he wanted to.

"Yeah I changed my mind. I love your work and you're right... You're a valuable asset." Christine shifted uncomfortably in her seat, the way he said that made her feel it had more than one meaning.

"Right okay. I guess I should go. Thank you, Mister Dessin." Christine stood prompting Erik to stand as well. They shook hands and he handed her a packet of paper.

"Here's some things to know before working here including preferred dress code, your hours and all of that. I'll see you next week, Miss Daae." She scanned the first page before smiling and going over to Todd.

"C'mon kiddo time to experience life." He shut his game off and stood, and the two left the room but the uncomfortable feeling stuck.

"Do you know he likes you?"

"Well I got the job so yeah."

"No I mean like like."

"Like like?" Christine smiled at the kids naievity as she pressed the down button on the elevator. "He likes likes his wife and I like like your uncle. He doesn't like like me, kid."

"Oh he's married?" The elevator slid open and once they were inside alone they continued.

"Yes. For ten years I think he said."

"So he's not allowed to like like you. I guess I was wrong."

"Mhm." Her phone started buzzing and when it was Meg, her best friend, she answered the phone. "Hey lady what's up?"

"Oh nothing much. Wanna hang out? Deven is busy today so I'm bored."

"I'm babysitting till tonight, tomorrow I'm open though. I need to go shopping for my new job so you can help me."

"What about Raoul?"

"It's hard to shop when he sees right past the clothes. God bless the guy he's been so patient but I can tell as the wedding gets closer he's losing it. He mentions it more and more and is a lot touchier lately." The blonde gave Todd's headphones to him so he could play his game and not listen to her conversation. Once they were on and he was playing his game she returned to the call. "Like last week after an interview he was like let me help you forget it and he grabbed my butt. Last night he kept rubbing my butt as I tried falling asleep as if it were a pleasure zone."

"Yeah it makes sense. It's been what, four years since you two started dating? His balls have probably died by now." Christine laughed as the elevator opened on the ground floor, and she guided Todd out by the head once again.

"Probably. Okay I'm taking this kid to get ice cream. So I should let you go. Pick me up at noon tomorrow, ok?"

"Oookay will do. See you tomorrow, Chris."

"Si. Bye bye." With the phone hung up they started the walk to the nearest ice cream parlor.

. x .

That night after being scolded by Todd's mom for giving him sugar, after eating bad pork and mashed potatoes made lovingly (but terribly) by the fiancé, and after showering, she put her clothes out for the morning. It was just to fill paperwork out, but she wanted to seem eager.

While Raoul was hugging her from behind and sweeping kisses across the back of her neck, and ashamed of it, she was thinking of her new boss. He was wearing a mask, it was only normal right? She wanted to know why. After looking him up on Google some say it's because of a bad deformity, but some say it's to fuel his ego. Which was it? Thus that night the plan to try and smuggle it out of him was born. She didn't even care about seeing it what it was, she just wanted to find out why.

. x .

"Erik, can we talk?" The man, stunned to see his wife at work, looked up from his report that he was reading and all he could do was blink. "Is that a yes?"

He shook his head to shake the stun off and pointed at the seat across from him. "Of course sit down."

"So you remember the other night, when you asked about kids?"

"Yes." He stared at the woman and noticed her nervousness.

"I thought that maybe... They weren't such a bad idea after all? Only one or two of course, but I'm open to the idea." And that was it. The end of the road, the moment he realized having kids with her would only pin him down and make her stuck with him forever... Plus the fact she figured out what office he worked in. That was another reason! He avoided her like the plague and a husband shouldn't feel that way about his wife.

"I think I want to wait. Work is busy, I'm just taking on new employees who will need training and stocks are down. I'd much prefer to wait this out."

"Oh no the children will have to wear a ten dollar onesie instead of a gold studded one. Whatever will we do?" He knew she was trying to make a joke, but it really wasn't funny.

"You didn't even want kids whenever we talked about it, what changed your mind?" He was suspicious, he had a way to get out of the half would be hers thing. He would give her enough to live comfortably, but half? No no no. Too many people depended on him and he wasn't going to throw away back up checks on the woman he knew the minute he mentioned a divorce would demand his soul, head, all of his money and probably his dick just to make her laugh.

"Ever since that night I've been seeing more and more kids? I don't know why but they stood out and I don't know I guess you were right about the maturity thing I just needed to reevaluate my thoughts. Kids are a big deal, and you know me when I have to change my mind on something it takes forever." Upfront would be his best course of action, he knew that, but what would she say?

"Tell me something, if you don't mind divulging me."

"Of course." Erik stood and started roaming around the room all while staring at her.

"Is this change in heart due to maybe someone breaking something off with you?" He dragged his finger across a table and noticed the bit of dust.

"Erik are you suggesting me of cheating?!" He flinched, and when he looked up he stopped his tormenting when the woman plaguing his thoughts was standing in the doorway, looking rather stunned... and she wore her hair down. This Christine was to be the death of him.

"Oh do keep your voice down you did after all bug me at my place of employment. Please excuse Miss Daae and I, I have to begin her training."

She stood as she fumed over the question her husband dared to ask while eyeing the blonde. "And you accuse me of cheating." She moved over to him and stuck her finger in his face. "This is not over."

"Move your finger away from my face before I break it. You know that is my biggest pet peeve. Now go she's new to marketing and I want to get her to work you insufferable woman. Go see a movie or go to the spa or whatever will get you out of my office." Erik truly didn't mean to say that in front of Christine but all of his newly discovered depth of his hate for his wife got loose and it was just slipping out. His wife attempted to kill him with her glare, but when he was unphased she pushed past Christine, who at that point realized she should've left. "I'm sorry you had to see that, please come in and let me know who told you I wasn't busy."

"Oh god I am so sorry please don't fire anyone! I just-" as amused as he was by her protectiveness he realized his eyes began to wonder down. He was curious what the dresses look like! No harm done, right? "Please don't fire anyone it was just on the packet you said for training come to your office and don't worry about whether you're busy or not. It was all me but even then please don't fire yourself... Or me." As the sentence left Christine's mouth she tried pulling it back in, but it was out there for him to hear and laugh at. She was such an idiot! "Can I be blatantly honest on several subjects before we start this training? Just so we don't end up wasting our time."

"No one is getting fired, and of course."

"Okay first this training in your office sounds like a bad five dollar budget porn plot." That got him to laugh which was a good thing to her, and God did his laugh sound beautiful. "And second I don't think I like your wife. She didn't even say excuse me when she walked through me."

"Yeah I'm learning I don't like her much myself, but that's a long story. Don't worry about the five dollar budget porn thing, I just feel that if I want something right I'll do it myself. Since I can't do every job in this company, the closest I get to that is training practically all my employees."

"I wasn't worried I just thought it was kind of funny... So why did she stop by? You said no phone calls for us, is everything okay? Are you okay? Do you need to talk? I'm always a good ear if you decide you do, and I also enjoy tea. So I can sit and drink tea for hours despite my body's plea for me to stop."

"That's quite impressive. She just wanted to talk about something and needless to say it didn't end well." She was offering to talk over coffee? Who in their right mind would pass that offer up? "I may take you up on your offer though. I haven't had a good cup of tea in a few months so maybe I'll rectify that."

"Oh well I'm very sorry, and just let me know so I can call my fiancée and leave him a voicemail because he's too busy working to notice me." She giggled to get rid of the hint of pain. She didn't mind that he worked a lot, and when he wasn't working he was nearly over attentive, but that was one of the reasons she was looking forward to getting a job. She wouldn't have to cook for one anymore on the nights he would stay there overnight.

"Well if he were wise he wouldn't do that."

"I really don't mind, he is just doing his job and I can't fault him for that. He's working on a possible homicide right now so obviously he's taking his time and doing his best." Uncomfortable talking about the man who removed any possibility of him asking her out to dinner, he decided to change the subject.

"Quite noble of him. So onto the training, today we'll just be going over the software, how the phones work and simple things the get you started, I have a simple task for you to help you get comfortable and then half an hour before the day is over I'll take you to your office and show you around. Sound like a plan?"

"Of course."

"Good." When he pulled a small chair from under his desk out she moved over and sat down on it so she could view his monitor. "Now let's get started." He took his jacket off in attempt to get comfortable before sitting down next to her. Her perfume hit his nose and he wanted to do nothing more than to smell it up even closer... Today was going to be a very long day.

. x .

"And that completes the tour. I hope you find it suitable. I do try to keep the place clean and functioning."

"It's beautiful, it really is. So... About that tea? I know you need to talk so I feel like it's my responsibility to force you to talk to me!"

"Why, I suppose you're right, and if you're going to quit now would be the best time... We have a British woman working here whose tea always smells amazing, does that work for you? I'm not all that comfortable... in public."

"No of course that's fine. However if she wonders where her tea went I'm blaming you."

"I have every intention of giving her money to buy more." Pleased with the young woman's acceptance he had her return to his office in case anyone came back into the building, and he worked on the tea. Christine took the opportunity to call and let Raoul know she'd be home late, and she couldn't help but feel scandalous. It was just tea, but it was with her boss after hours in his office talking about his unhappy marriage. It was probably because she was wearing a thong. She always felt like some alluring woman up to no good in a thong, but she didn't want panty lines on her first day. Maybe in three years, but first day? Nope. So as she sat there obsessing over her underwear and pantie lines, Erik finished the tea and made his way to his office. "Okay here we go." She pushed her pantie thoughts out of her mind as he came in with a tray.

"So what do you need to talk about?" She started making her tea up and he suddenly was more interested in how she took her tea. Enough sugar to kill a person and cream. Odd.

"Hmm I don't know. What dirt do you want on your boss?"

"I am doing this because I care too much for my own good. What's bothering you?" She sipped at her tea once pleased with the color, and smiled when as Erik said, tasted devine.

"I guess I'll just be blunt to start, I can't stand my wife the more time I spend with her. Things I was okay with when we got married I'm not okay with anymore. When I interviewed you first, you mentioned children which are a dead dream for me with her. She doesn't want them and ten years ago when I was first starting this business I was fine with that. Now I just hate that. She parties constantly and today she came in and said she was wrong and wants kids, and now the idea of having kids with her brings dread. I don't want to be stuck with her."

"Then you should divorce her. Sometimes the feeling goes away and that could be the case here. You should want children with the person you're with if you want kids. It should be exciting not dreadful. Don't ruin your chance of finding that person because you're married."

"Yeah I know, but if I divorce her she gets half, and for what? Fucking going to Hawaii? No I have money put aside so this company can function for a year with absolutely no profit coming in, I can't get rid of that. I'm not going to risk this company for the chance of me finding someone else who is willing to tolerate me."

"Well let me know if I'm being nosey, but do you love her?" He laughed which was not the reaction she was expecting.

"Y'know the more I think about our relationship the more I realize that I think I loved the attention she gave me more than her person. You have understand that before I was all of this," he motioned around the room. "No one cared about me unless it was it laugh at me..." He realized he was getting advice from a twenty six year old love struck, cutting the chat short. "I should get going. If she's home she'll wonder where I am and lord knows I'll be up till four am apologizing for accusing her of cheating on me." He started to stand up, but stopped when she began to protest.

"What- I'm sorry, Erik please don't leave. This tea is really good, I don't want to go home and I enjoy helping people with their problems."

"Why don't you want to go home?"

"Because my fiancé hasn't text me back meaning he's working and I don't like being home alone. That was something I was hoping to achieve with working here. I could drown myself in work until he got home." She sipped at her tea to soothe the lump in her throat as tears pricked at the corners over her eyes. "But it's not your job to babysit me, I'm sorry I don't know why I asked you to stay. Your wife is more important whether or not you plan on divorcing her." Christine set her mug down before standing, and she picked her purse up. "Goodnight, Erik. Thank you for the tea and letting me give you my two cents. I hope you take it because you deserve it... Do you want me to close up shop for tonight?"

"No don't worry about it. I'm going to finish a couple things before I face the storm." She nodded as he looked at a piece of paper on his desk. "Thank you for the attempt to help me. You gave me some things to think about." That made her smile, and with knowing she may of helped, she left his office and headed towards the elevator so she could go home.


	3. Chapter 3

On her way down to the parking garage, she was still arguing with Todd's mom over the ice cream stunt. Christine really didn't care that Becca was mad, but it was Raoul's sister so she had to made amends. She was seconds away from telling Becca to go do what she best and suck a dick, but again, Raoul's sister. Sighing as the elevator opened, she walked out into the parking garage, and stopped when the only other car in there besides her's had its back window smashed in. When it was a painfully expensive car, she had a good feeling it was Erik's. Figuring calling Erik would be faster than going back up, she dialed his number and looked around the garage as the phone rang. "Christine?"

"Yeah hi, I think..." She noticed "asshole" scratched into his car door. "Your wife left you a present. You may want to come look."

"What the hell did she do?"

"Just come see for yourself." She hung the phone up and stood by his car, not liking being in the garage alone.

Thankfully, he didn't dilly dally. She was only in the murder garage for three minutes and thirty six seconds by her onesie. "Are you fucking kidding?!" Christine turned and he was hurrying over to the car. "This is fucking ridiculous!" He opened the driver side door and checked the glove department, then the arm rest storage area, and he seemed a tiny bit less mad when he pulled a few items out. "That fucking brat… what would fucking justify this?" He got out of the car and pulled his phone out of his pocket while closing the door. "You're right, I'm done this was just over the line. Thank you for alerting me, you can get home I'm fine."

"Do you need a ride? I can't imagine you live close if you drive to work."

"No I'm fine I'll call a cab. I'm up at sixtieth and ninth. I'm not going to make you drive all that way."

"Are you a New York native?" Erik nodded and that explained why he thought on a six mile long island it was a long drive. "Okay dude seriously go get what you need and I'm going to take you home. I'm helping you out and maybe Raoul will be home by the time I'm home."

"Fiancé?" He didn't like hearing the fiancé address by his first name, the man wasn't sure why. Hiis jealousy was getting concerning when it was towards a young engaged woman he just liked for being not his wife and willingness to talk to him. Old habits die hard.

"Yes. So let's go get your things, and I'm coming with because I don't like these stupid things. I would've walked but I couldn't sleep last night."

"Okay. Thank you for this." She smiled and shooed him back towards the elevator.

. x .

"Thank you for the ride, Christine."

"Oh you're welcome." She checked her phone and sighed when Raoul still hadn't responded. "Good luck, boss."

"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow. Have a good night." She smiled, and he turned and disappeared into his building. Christine glanced at his butt on accident and sucked in some air… It was nice. Once he was gone she shook the butt image out of her head, and pulled back onto the road so she could work on getting home. It wasn't too late, she considered catching a play or something just to kill the time, but decided against it. Dolphin needed food and she wanted to shower and put some pajamas on.

. x .

When Christine woke up that morning she was met with disappointment after seeing Raoul wasn't home. So she continued with her morning as if he were there. Breakfast, hair, makeup, clothes, feed Dolphin and the finally relaxing on the couch until it was time to go to work. She even waited as late as she could in case he came home, but as she left the apartment she was texting him telling him to have a good day and that she loved him, and she hoped to see him tonight. With that done, she left her warm home to go to work. Admittedly she was painfully curious how the car situation panned out, but knew it was none of her business and decided not to ask. Besides, she had no way of seeing him, she had her work and he had his.

. x .

With the six block walk to work, she was able to decide was sounded good for dinner, finally make up with Todd's mom and tell Meg where to get the best cupcakes in her opinion. It was a rather eventful day and it wasn't even ten! With a spring in her step she passed a tow truck towing the ruined car of her boss. She really wanted to know how that went down! She was too curious for her own good, but really, who does that? Destroys a car after being accused of cheating? A really pretty expensive car to be exact that Christine would kill to have. Who could be so wasteful?

After getting to work, and settled into working on her first task that had been left on her desk, there was a knock on the door. She finished writing a note down before calling for them to come in. She looked up and tried not to smile when it was Erik, because he sought her out to tell her what happened making her feel less nosey. "What can I do for ya?"

Erik found himself staring at her. He didn't mean to, but her eyes were especially green that morning. "You're uh… already almost done with the assignment?" He came over and read her notes which she thought was rather rude, but reminded herself he was the owner of the company and had every right to. He mostly did it to give him something to look at besides her. "Impressive." She could tell he was avoiding the reason he came in here, almost as if he were embarrassed.

"Thank you. So what brought you to my domain? Surely not to check up on my work."

"No you're correct. I uh- so I'm- my wife thinks that we... and is going to use it in attempt to..." If Christine knew better she almost would say he was blushing.

However knowing where he was going she spoke to save him from being embarrassed. "Your wife thinks, because of yesterday and you saying you were training me, that we're having sex, and is going to use it in court in attempt to win back her rights to your money?"

"Uh yes. That." He sat down, and she set her pen down since it was a bit of a problem.

"Did you point out that I'm engaged and newly employed here? You have at least thirty employees that you've trained personally and they'd pledge for that. She doesn't have a case, so don't worry, Mr. Dessin. Besides you can afford the best lawyers in the galaxy, what can she afford? A brain dead monkey in a suit?"

"Yes, but I just wanted to apologize for this mess. It was never my intention to have you in it at all let alone connected to it by her accusation of us having a uh-"

"Affair." He nodded and she was enjoying seeing him embarrassed. "There's no harm done, truly. Just as long as she doesn't like scream it everywhere she goes-" realization hit and she saw her thoughts in his eyes. "Oh god she's telling people."

"She doesn't know your name. I've hidden the file, all of my employees have been told under no reason is anyone to be told it and she's not even allowed in the building. All people are hearing is that I'm having an affair with a new employee."

"What if my fiancé hears it? I'm a new employee and he knows I'm a new employee!" Christine whimpered and covered her face, anxiety beginning to cripple her ability to think. "I haven't seen him in over a day, what if he's heard it and is refusing to talk to me? Oh my god that's it isn't it? He heard I was cheating on him because of your bitch of a wife and isn't talking to me!" She stood and started collecting her things, she needed to get out of there and go see Raoul. She needed to set things straight and hope he believes her. "Thank you for the opportunity, sir, but I quit." She slung her purse over her shoulder, and when he didn't argue she assumed he was amazed she took that long to quit.

"I will assist you in finding another job, and will assure your fiancé nothing has occurred between us. I'm terribly sorry and I hope that you can forgive me."

"Of course, thank you for your offers." She hurried out of her office and practically ran to the elevator, Raoul being the only thing on her mind at that point.

. x .

She always felt insignificant at Raoul's work, like she was beneath everyone even if they didn't voice that they thought that. It was probably just her nagging self confidence. Christine headed straight for Raoul's office, and when she got sight of him her heart found some comfort. She knocked before pushing the door open, but when he didn't smile at her she feared she had been correct. "Raoul? I need to apologize."

"For what, baby?" He set his papers down and pushed his chair back so he could stand, and Christine had to admit, he looked like shit at that moment.

"You're- you're not mad at me?" He nearly laughed mid stretch, and once he was done he came over and kissed her forehead.

"Why would I be mad at you? You need to be mad at me. I've been awol for a day and I haven't called you. I'm sorry about that, I really am. I couldn't find my spare charger until a few minutes ago, this case is relentless and you know my bosses rule with personal calls using my work phone. I hope you can forgive me... So why do you think I'm mad at you?" Before she could explain she got over his smell and hugged him, his arms encasing her a few seconds later.

"I love you so much, and I forgive you, but we also need to talk in case you come across something." As expected he loosened his grip before completely letting go. "It's not what you think. It is but it isn't... It's complex." She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the tale. "So you know how I got a new job?" Raoul nodded as Christine started wringing her hands. "Well yesterday when my boss trained me, his wife had stopped by before we started and they're fighting and she thinks he and I... That my boss and I are having sex. She doesn't know my name, but she's telling people it's with a new employee and I wanted to clear it up with you in case somehow it made it to you. She like totally fucked his car up, keyed it, broke the windows and slashed a couple of his tires, and now she's doing this in attempt to earn her half back when they divorce because he's like really fucking rich. Stupid rich."

"She sounds like a bitch." Christine nodded in agreement and watched as he sighed and rubbed his nose. "Okay. Thank you for telling me."

"Also I quit because I didn't want you to think with the rumor out there that I was staying there because it was true. He offered to help find me another job and he owns the company so I probably won't be unemployed for long."

"You didn't have to quit, Christine. You were really excited for that job and it was going to be good for you. I trust you, and if you want to work there call your boss and ask for your job back." She was surprised to hear his okay to work for Erik, but did she want to hurt Erik's reputation by going back?

"Okay, thank you for trusting me... Will you be home tonight?"

"I hope so. I fear that I smell like ass so probably." He smiled after hearing her laugh, a sound he never grew tired of.

"I'm going to burn that suit, okay?"

"Oh thank you." She blushed when suddenly he was kissing her, but it didn't really set in until his hands landed on her butt. Not only did her eyes pop open but her cheeks went from mellow red to matching her red nails.

"I gotta go, I'll see you tonight, okay?" He nodded and kissed her one last time before letting go so she could leave.

"Will do. I love you, Christine."

"I love you too, Raoul." She left his office feeling relieved and like everything was back to normal... or close to being normal at least.

. x .

Christine came to the conclusion that she deserved to continue working at Erik's company. She wasn't going to let his wife scare her away from a good job! She, Raoul and Erik knew the truth and that's all that mattered. Or did it? That question stopped her from knocking on Erik's office door. Did it matter? His judge wouldn't know the truth, the investors don't know the truth, the public who buy his items don't know the truth... Should she knock on the door? Just as she decided not to, the door opened and she froze, and Erik seemed equally surprised by her presence. "Christine? Did you forget something?"

"Uh..." She really had no idea to get out of standing there. "No. No I did not."

"I don't mean to seem rude, but then why are you standing here?"

"That is an excellent question..." She bit at her lip while trying to think of an excuse. "I have an idea!" She smiled. "On how to get rid of the entire rumor..." He pulled her in and she looked at her arm where he grabbed her when it was tingling. She slapped at it to make it go away because it was weirding her out.

"What is that idea?"

"Okay well I kinda lied. No idea. I just really want to work for you still, but I don't want to ruin your name by staying here. She knows what I look like, and if she ever sees me leaving the building she'll know I still work here."

Had it been anyone else he would've turned them away. Quitting then asking for your job back? Big no. But she quit because of him so he was a little more forgiving. "Okay so... It sounds like an internal problem you're dealing with which I cannot help. You're welcome to come back if you'd like, and whether you stay or not I'm probably fucked anyway."

"Sue her for destroying your reputation. Threaten or have the papers served to her. Scare her into shutting up, I know if I were her I'd shut up if you tried suing me." He smiled and she suddenly felt like a small child who had no idea what she was talking about.

"I've considered that, but I enjoy your vindictive side. Remind me to never piss you off." Her cheeks warmed as he began pacing the room. "Can I ask you something?"

"What's that?"

"What does your fiancé specialize in?"

"He does mostly criminal, but he also has dabbled in family and business."

"How many cases has he won?"

"Nineteen out of twenty cases, however the twentieth was called off so we don't know what the result of that one would've been."

Before she could ask why he wanted to know that stuff, he handed her a pen and sticky note. "Name and number, please. As a thank you for the ride I'll look into working with your fiancé with this. It's nothing major, the lawsuit. The divorce I already have a lawyer."

"Really?" He nodded and she quickly scribbled Raoul's name and number, then gave him it.

"Raoul de Chagny? Please tell me he's taking your last name..." He pursed his lips and Christine stood there, too confused to respond. "Sorry that was rude of me."

"He hates it too... We never considered him taking my last name, he just said he wasn't going to force the monstrosity on me so I'm keeping my last name."

"That's nice of him. Anyway I'll give him a call tomorrow and see if he's interested."

"That's too kind..." The awkwardness of the situation being too much for her, Christine decided to leave. "I'm gonna get back to work. Thank you for not holding my breakdown against me."

"Not a problem." He kicked himself for being such an idiot when she ran out of his office to get away from him. He was hopeless.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry about the late chapter, I took a spurr of the moment trip to Cali so I've been on vacation.**

Over the next month Christine had come to get used to the routine of working, but also to having every conversation she had with Erik end in awkwardness and one of them trying to get away from one another. However thankfully her awkward new employee phase with the other employees only lasted a couple weeks, and she quickly befriended several people. She thought it was interesting they were all in PR.

Raoul had to decline assisting Erik due to the case he was still slaving over, and Raoul regretted it after another week of working practically twenty four seven. "Christine, please come to my office in the next ten minutes." Christine hated going to his office, she was so uncomfortable in there, not like he's checking her out uncomfortable but like... Forced conversation uncomfortable. For the last week he was busy with his personal life and work she had been able to avoid him, however when the owner of the company is OCD and needs to see everything, she knew it wasn't going to last too long.

Pressing down on the button on her office phone she sighed, "On my way." and gathered her things up before heading to his office, always knocking before entering. Even when he told her to come. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, sit down please." Christine sat as he finished scribbling something down, and once he was done he set the pen down and looked at her. "You mentioned that the lawyer was your fiancé, correct?" He felt himself get a little nauseous thinking about the Lawyer and her together.

"Uh yes. We're going to be married in April."

"Okay…" He tried to keep the vomit down. "Well since he wasn't able to work for me I'm just going to awkwardly offer you two something. I just want to thank you for that ride still, and also for returning back to work here. That saved me from doing more interviews and you have no idea how thankful I am for that."

"Oh well that's really unnecessary." She glanced at her papers and handed them to him. "Just let me know how you feel about my progress so far, please." Even when it wasn't awkward she felt the need to get away from him.

"Please just let me give you two something. As you can imagine, I don't do well with people." That was the first time he had mentioned his mask, directly or not.

"You did fine with me." He nodded as he filed through the sketches of an upcoming advertisement for a sale.

"I tried stupidly hard once I saw your work. I wanted you to work for me, and thankfully you do."

She was thankful that she had decided to wear her hair down this morning, because it gave her somewhere to hide when she blushed. "Thank you."

"No, thank you... Just let me know if there's something you two need and I will happily assist." He fixed her papers so they were neat in a stack before giving them back to her, and he could of sworn he saw her blushing, but he wasn't sure enough to swear on it. "They look good. Will they be done today?"

"They should be. Is that all you wanted?" Christine needed to get back to work.

"Yeah, you can get back to work. Sorry for distracting you." Christine stood up, and she smiled awkwardly before leaving his office. She was awful around him. The last time she felt like that around someone she threw up on him, and they became friends after it. Needless to say, Raoul was pretty forgiving.

. x .

"Can I get a black tea, hold the water, please? No sugar." Christine handed the cashier her employee card, and after it was scanned she moved to the side so the next exhausted person could order their fix. "How do you make tea with no water?" She wasn't even safe in the peasant coffee house in the building. Why did he feel the need to make her all confused constantly? She didn't like the knot her stomach was in when he was around. It made her nervous.

"Uh... No added water I think it means. I honestly don't know. I just accidentally took a woman's order, and it was that and it was good so here I am ordering it still four years later."

"Oh... Interesting. I'll have to try it sometime." She nodded as he stood there, completely oblivious to their lack of subjects to talk about. "So did you enjoy the rain last night?" Was he really that desperate to talk to someone? Didn't he have like... friends or even people he pays to talk to?

"Uh yeah it was nice. Living in the South I learned to appreciate the cool rain whenever it comes. Did you?"

"To some extent. I was out for a run when it started and my phone was in my pocket... Needless to say I had to get a new phone this morning."

"That sucks. I'd hate to have my phone break." The idea of shelling out the money for a new one made Christine blanch, eight hundred dollars for a seven by three piece of metal hurt.

"Yeah... So what are your plans for Thanksgiving?"

"I'm flying down to Charleston for dinner with my fiancés family," Christine had no idea why she encouraged the conversation further. "what about you?"

"Oh just dinner with the soon to be ex-wife... or by myself. Depends on whether or not I can tolerate her that day." She laughed, and the sound surprised both of them.

"I'm surprised you haven't kicked her out."

"I'm trying to look like the good guy for court. Kicking her out would make me look like an ass."

"You're willing to live with her to look good?"

"If I'm more likely to keep my money then yeah. She's sleeping in the guest room though."

"Well at least you don't have to share a bed. That'd suck." Christine couldn't imagine sharing a bed with someone she hated.

"Until I had the idea we did. Needless to say I had a lot of nightmares." It wasn't funny but Christine found herself laughing.

Humor aside she was genuinely concerned for him. "Are you alright? Is she hurting you or threatening you in some way? If you promise to pay bail and my lawyer fees I'll kick her ass for you. Abusive relationships can be difficult."

"No I'm fine, thank you for the concern." He was touched someone would worry about his well being, but even if she were being violent it would be easy to stop. Then her last comment caught his attention. "How do you know about abusive relationships? Do you need to talk? I can help you get out if you need out. If any of my employees are in that type of situation I'll happily help them." Erik was ready to kick her fiancé's ass.

"No! I'm fine, really." She didn't want anyone thinking Raoul was abusive. "My fiancé's sister was in one while he and I were still minors, and I watched it take a toll on her. She was like my big sister after meeting her, but after she started dating that chick it went all down hill... She's bi."

Erik wasn't sure if she made a mistake or if she actually meant the sister dated a girl, but he didn't want to ask. He wanted to sound attentive, but Christine ended up clearing it up to his delight. "Oh okay." Christine's name was called and she smiled at Erik before going and getting her tea. It was warm, and he was curious when she popped the lid off while moving towards the condiment station. He found himself smiling when she chose the cinnamon shaker and tapped it four or five times over her tea before stirring it in. She tasted it, and must of been pleased with the result because she smiled and put the lid back on. He felt his nervous sweat die down when she left, even if she left without saying goodbye. Since they had been talking he had kind of hoped for one, but he then remembered their usual farewells and didn't complain.

. x .

Once she was in the elevator, Christine realized she had forgotten to say goodbye. She really didn't mean to be rude, she just was so stupid around him. She felt her phone vibrating in her purse, so she quickly pulled it out and answered it when it was Raoul. "Hey babe what's up?"

"Hey so Mike is out sick today so I have nothing to do, and Jarrod and his wife is having a party tonight. Want to meet me at his place after work?"

"That sounds fun," she sipped at her tea momentarily. "I'll call you when I'm on my way. Text me his address please?" Christine left the elevator once it stopped on the correct floor, and she enjoyed the sound of her heels clicking against the floor as she walked across the lobby. It made her feel pretty badass.

"Of course. I'll see you tonight, have a good day."

"You too." She hung her phone up and waved at Jackie, the assistant for Erik and Nadir, who was Erik's main assistant... At least that's how she thought it worked. Christine still didn't know what he did at the company.

Jackie flagged her down, so Christine stopped while putting her phone back in her purse. "Hey Christine, Alice and I are going to the bar tonight, want to come with? Drinks are on me." Christine was tempted by the offer, drinking with her friends just sounded much more tempting than drinking with Raoul's co-workers.

"Sorry, I have a party to go to tonight with my fiancé. Your offer sounds much more tempting though."

"Well next time we're getting a drink."

"Okay sounds good." They smiled, and Christine walked away from Jackie's desk so she could finally go to her office and get the day started.

. x .

Christine's day proved to be rather productive, and when she realized the party was off the island and it was after five, she was even more tempted to call Raoul and tell him she couldn't make it. Since Raoul had the car, she elected to take her least favorite form of transportation- the water taxi. She always got sea sick, they were dirty and they also felt the need to share history when she just wanted to get off the island without sitting in traffic letting the meter in the taxi run. But either way she found herself sitting inside since she didn't want to smell the harbor water, and she was grabbing the pole next to her trying not to vomit while a guy talked about the Statue of Liberty.

Thankfully her stop was the first one after where she got on, so once the boat came to a stop she hurried off, and had she not been in New York she would've kissed the ground. Then she transferred over to a taxi for the rest of the journey allowing her to get over the nausea. She did the number one bad idea and accidentally dozed off in the cab, but thankfully she didn't get a murderer so she tipped the driver a bit extra when he pulled up to the right house. "Have a good evening ma'am."

"You as well. Good luck with all the traffic. I don't know how you drive in it." She put her purse over her shoulder and opened the door as the man smiled.

"Money makes it seem not too bad."

"I guess that's true. Well have a good night!" She climbed out and shut the door, then proceeded to collect herself some so she looked presentable. She then headed towards the door and prepped herself for her usual feeling insignificant around Raoul's friends. Once stepping foot inside, it didn't take long for the condescending tones to kick in.

"So are you still drawing for a living?" Miles was in probably her least favorite of the bunch, and she hated that Raoul continued to hang out with him.

"I don't know, are you still fucking your secretary?"

"So yes then?"

"Yeah. I'm working at ED Design. They're the company companies go to- to design things ranging from sale advertisements to email logos. I'm head of the department and am making an average of twenty two dollars an hour. So are you done being a prick or should I go talk to your wife about Miss Lacey?" Christine wasn't going to destroy a marriage, but if it got him to stop being a dick she'd threaten to. He walked away leaving her without an answer, but she was away from him and she wasn't going to complain. In her attempt to find Raoul, she ran into Mikey and he was her favorite. "Ah! Hey dude how are you?" They hugged momentarily and she found herself smiling.

"I'm doing good, and you? Raoul was telling me you got a new job over at ED Design, that's pretty cool."

"Yeah I'm enjoying it so far. The owner is... odd, but hey," she shrugged her shoulders and opened the fridge to grab a beer. "I can't complain. He pays well and is a nice guy." She twisted the cap off and chucked it in the trash.

"I heard he's getting a divorce. Like his wife keyed his car or something?"

"Uh..." Christine honestly had no clue if she was allowed to talk about it so she played it safe. "I dunno. I haven't heard that but that doesn't mean it isn't true. I've met his wife once and she didn't seem all that bad so it's probably just a rumor."

"I hope it is. Divorces suck. I hate being a divorce lawyer... I have to watch people who used to love each other enough to marry one another and have a kid or two, argue and call one another names and wish death upon them for hours. It's just heart breaking. However listening to wives helps me learn how to better make James happy so it's not too bad."

"James is happy don't worry. She'd tell you if she weren't." James wasn't one to keep her complaints to herself if she knew they'd help in some way or another.

"Yeah I know but I do try to keep her happy. I don't want to test my luck."

"Understandable. So is Raoul here? He told me he was but that could mean he's just on his way, and didn't think I'd get here before him."

"Let me lead you to him." He pointed his beer bottle the way he began to walk, and they were soon out back and Raoul was playing horseshoes with a few other people. "I gotta go order food but enjoy yourself."

"Thanks." She smiled one last time before relaxing and heading towards Raoul. "I've been here five minutes and I already feel like a piece of shit, courtesy of Miles. When are you going to cut him off? He's such an ass to me."

"He's an ass to everyone don't take it personal."

"Assholes don't deserve friends if they're just going to be dicks, but I'm not going to hold my breath for you to stop being friends with him, because that would require you to care that he's rude to me." Christine really didn't want to be at that party when the offer for free drinks was hanging in the back of her mind with people she actually liked.

"Of course I care and I always ask him to stop. He's not required to listen to me though."

"Good god you're such a pushover when it comes to Miles. You always have been, even before we started dating. You don't even like him, he treats me like I'm some dumb woman and you like you're an idiot. He doesn't appreciate or respect you and-" he finally turned and faced her since he sensed that she didn't want to be there. She would always try to annoy him or get them into an argument so she could leave.

"Here's the keys." After getting the keys from his pocket he tossed them at Christine catching her off guard. "I'll see you at home, okay?"

"What do you-"

"Whenever you don't want to be somewhere you try to get us arguing so you can storm out with a reason. So I'm letting you off the hook. Go socialize with whoever asked you to hang out tonight."

"Really?" Raoul wasn't lying, she did tend to do it, but never realized it unless he called her on it.

"Yeah, go. Be free." She handed him his beer and happily left the house to return to the island so she could go grab drinks with Jackie.

. x .

"Well that didn't take long!" Christine called Jackie on her way over so she'd save Christine a seat, and when they even ordered her a drink Christine felt so much more comfortable.

"Yeah my fiancé gave me the keys and let me leave. I can't stand most of his friends." Christine sat down on the stool to the right of Jackie and to the left of Alice, and picked her drink up.

"I love my husbands friends, but we were introduced by friends so they're my friends too." Alice and Christine looked at Jackie for her comment but she shook her head.

"Single. However I do like my friends." Christine giggled at the joke, but stopped when her lame sense of humor had her find it funny. "So when are you getting married, Christine?"

"In April. We're going to Hawaii for our honeymoon for three weeks. I still need to ask for the time off. Mr. Dessin will probably give it to me because I told him about his car and gave him a ride."

"Oh my God I totally forgot about his car! I overheard him saying his wife did it? I wonder what he did to piss her off..." Christine as she told Erik, knew very well women were just as capable of being abusive as men.

"Why is it his fault? What if she's just a bitch? Men aren't the only ones who can be abusive without being provoked."

"Well yeah but that was some hardcore shit."

"True... I really don't know. She seemed pretty crazy when I ran into her when I was trained." She really didn't want to start her job out by gossiping, but obviously Erik was since people knew about the things only she was there to see.

"He could say a lot of things to me before I'd fuck that good thing up. Like god damn have you seen his butt?" Christine and Alice shook their heads. "Well you're missing out. His arms are pretty nice too."

"I'm perfectly happy with my fiancé so you can have him, Jackie." Jackie smiled and tapped her glass against Christine's. Meanwhile Christine was remembering the glance of his butt she got the night she dropped him off at his place. It wasn't nice, it was amazing. Maybe even perfect.

"Why thank you my dear. If it were to ever happen I don't know if I'd do it though. I enjoy my job and I don't want it to be awkward, y'know?"

"Yeah sleeping with your boss could very easily make the job awkward." Christine scratched her nose... Stupid allergies.

"Yeah but she's right, his ass is not something to complain about."

"Alice you're married!" Christine couldn't believe Alice was calling Mr. Dessin hot.

"That doesn't mean I can't find him screwable." Alice waved down the bartender and smiled. "Can we get three shots of tequila please?"

"Things get weird when I drink tequila and wine. I think I'll stick with anything but." Christine held onto her drink and avoided the shots as best as she could, but things never went her way.


	5. Chapter 5

"I don't want you to think I'm attempting to flatter you, but you look like absolute shit this morning." She ended up having a couple... Or a few, she honestly couldn't remember still, shots of tequila despite her better judgement, and needless to say her hangover was brutal.

"Well if you keep telling women that you'll have at least ten in your bed by tomorrow afternoon." She could tell Erik was amused by her appeared hangover. She didn't have to look good until she was on her floor, but she was in the coffee shop meaning she was free to look as bad as she wanted.

"That's what I told my ex wife. Three weeks later we were married." Christine laughed, but quickly stopped when the headache flared up. "What'd you have to drink?"

"Uh... Tequila, Whisky and Vodka. Not in that order... I may of had a beer when I got home? But I'm still piecing last night back together. I definitely remember singing karaoke very loud and badly."

"Sounds like a fun night."

"I've had better." She flicked some fuzz off her pant leg and Erik eyed her leg, but stopped when he realized he was doing it. Christine took her tea from the barista and sipped at it, the hope of it not giving her more dry heaves were fulfilled when she felt fine. She had also slept in so she didn't have time for breakfast, so she got an egg and ham panini with some coffee cake. "Okay I gotta go. I don't want tequila to be the cause of my first late day."

"Have a good day."

"You too." Christine left to go towards the elevators as she unwrapped her sandwich.

Erik watched her leave, and didn't take his eyes off her until he felt someone staring. He looked over at the corner, and when it was Nadir he rolled his eyes and expected to be talked to momentarily. "So what's your plans with her?"

"For god sakes, Nadir she's engaged. I don't have any plans, and if I did I wouldn't tell you... Have some respect she isn't a building."

"Well from what I saw you think she's a piece of art that you can stare at."

"Why haven't I fired you?"

"Because you could sleep with a crossdressing hooker and I wouldn't judge you and I'd do my best to clean up the mess."

"I've been sleeping with Maley for seven years. You haven't had to do any clean up yet." Nadir laughed after getting what Erik meant, and Erik took his coffee from Harriet before heading towards the door, and unfortunately Nadir followed.

"Just do it, man. I know you want to."

"It's almost like you're forgetting that she's engaged. Unlike you I actually respect people's relationships."

"Don't make this about me. I'm trying to encourage you to start getting out there again." If the guy didn't find out, what was the harm? Nadir didn't understand his friends hesitance.

"Well I will, but I have to get through the divorce and find a single woman who isn't secretly a psychopath."

"Or a taken woman who isn't a psychopath."

"This conversation is over." Erik stepped into an elevator, and hit the door shut button before Nadir could join him.

"Just think about it!" The door shut, and Erik sighed from the exhaustion that comes with talking to Nadir.

. x .

Erik's day proved to be long and tiring, he had to deal with moody business people, the fax machine managed to spontaneously combust and two of his accountants gave their notice meaning his job interviews were to start the very next day. Then he had Nadir making the 'you know I'm right' face every time they were in the same room. He was pretty sure one of the requirements for being friends with a person was that you somewhat liked the person, but Erik was feeling nothing but hate for Nadir at that point. When he got home he had hoped he could just sit, enjoy his take out and watch some TV before getting some sleep, but Maley decided to be home for the night as well, meaning there was no relaxing. "Already letting yourself go I see?"

"You're just pissed I'm not offering you any." He popped a water chestnut into his mouth and the crunch drowned out her whining.

"Just because we're getting a divorce doesn't mean you can be a dick to me."

"Just because I know you're cheating on me now doesn't mean you can be a giant cunt." He rummaged through his Kung Pow Chicken to find a peanut to pair with his chicken.

"Who says I'm cheating on you? That's a thing you came up with that was never verified." Erik laughed to himself at how stupid she thought he was. He would've been offended but she couldn't help how stupid she was.

"Yeah you're just gone ninety eight percent of the time yet you've not once slept with another man, and you got gonorrhea and chlamydia from a toilet seat. Okay, I'll play along." He stood up from the couch with his food and drink, his room being his destination. "Enjoy being delusional."

"Enjoy being lonely." He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink while leaving the woman to be miserable by herself.

. x .

Taking her heels and bra off for the day was completely euphoric and probably felt better than sex. Christine couldn't compare experiences, but from what she had heard it was definitely better than sex. Her evening consisted of a warm bath, a nice movie and a grilled chicken Caesar salad with a side of chocolate cake. Counter productive, yes, but if that's what being counter productive tasted like she couldn't complain. She waited up for Raoul until midnight. Hell she would've even taken a text, but when nothing came she bunkered down and laid down in bed, the TV keeping her room bright but not light bright until she fell asleep.

. x .

That morning when she woke up, Raoul was still nowhere to be seen, but she did get a text telling her he was going to be late at... Three am. Gee she never would've guessed! She tossed her phone back onto the nightstand before climbing out of bed and preparing for her day. It was supposed to be like thirty degrees today, so she chose a turtle neck long sleeve black dress, dark purple leggings, boots to match the dress and a nice leather jacket with a scarf. She was pretty close to believing that mini Ice Age by twenty thirty shenanigans.

She stopped at Connies on the way in so she could keep warm with her usual tea, and also splurged and got a bagel. You couldn't refuse fresh bagels... At least she couldn't. She prefered eating both sides separately, but due to the cold weather she had to give in and have the same amount of carbs but in one go instead of two. However her enjoyment was short lived, and she was pissed when it was Erik's wife who ruined it. Maley stopped her outside of the building, and nearly backed her up against the wall, but then Christine remembered she could... Well could try to kick her ass. Her backup plan was to run into the building. "Listen here you little tramp, ever since you came around my marriage has been going downhill, and I most likely have you to blame for that! Stay the hell away from my husband and stop ruining my life!"

Was she serious? "No I'm pretty sure you have completely destroying his car and being a miserable cunt to thank for your bad marriage." Christine slapped the woman's hand out of her face after realizing it was there. "So do not fucking corner me, do not pin me down, and stay the fuck away from me because I'm happily engaged and have absolutely no interest in your soon to be ex-husband! Now if you don't mind I actually have a job that I can't be late for." Christine hurried into the building, and made a quick journey up to her floor, and knocked on Erik's door. She wasn't going to fucking do that and since it was Erik's wife he was going to handle it.

"Come in!" She pushed the door open, then shut it behind her. Erik needless to say was surprised to see Christine, but when she looked furious, close to murderous rage he was actually fearful. "What can I assist you with, Christine?"

"Listen buddy I have my own fucking problems to deal with, I had a shitty night and an equally shitty morning, and I will not tolerate being pinned down by your wife and having her call me a tramp because she is under some misconception that we're fucking. I would never ask this of anyone because everyone is their own person, but keep that obnoxious twat in line! I can't work here and be blamed for ruining a marriage every day." Now that her anger was mostly vented she felt some better, but she was still itching to yell at Raoul to just be there every once and a while so she didn't feel like she was living with a roommate and single!

"She pinned you down outside?" Erik really didn't know what he was going to do, he couldn't have her harassing workers outside but he can't ban her from the sidewalk... Maybe he could... New York was assbackwards on a lot of things so maybe there was something he could use to his advantage?

"Yes." She tried to look pissed as she took a drink of her tea, but it was hard to do that. Look condescending or judgemental? Oh yeah she can do that, but mad? No she just looks like she's glaring at her cup. She hoped the tea would calm her some, but nothing changed. "And I don't appreciate being called a tramp or a marriage wrecker." How could she be a tramp? She barely slept in the same bed as her fiancé. At the rate they were going it was scandalous for Raoul to see anything below her ears. She felt her eyes well up and before she could stop it tears were brimming her eyelids. Thus beginning a game of don't blink. "But yeah that's all. Sorry for being angry towards you. You've done nothing but your best and she's just being a cunt." She turned to leave, and Erik found the sudden change of emotion even more unsettling than how angry she had been.

"Are you okay? Do you need a few minutes?"

"No I'm fine I'm just going through some personal stuff. Nothing I haven't been dealing with for weeks." She opened the door and made her way to her office, and despite it being made out of glass, she sighed and grabbed a tissue so she could save her make up. She wiped her nose off, took a deep breath and grabbed her pencil so she could start on her new request. She hoped no one needed her for anything because she needed complete focus to make a logo out of scratch, if she doesn't get it she starts referencing others and she didn't like doing that.

. x .

She felt like she was losing it! After her tenth scrapped design she crumpled it up, threw it at the wall before seeing her ring, and she decided to rip that off and throw it as well before face planting on the desk and groaning. "Christine-"

"It's my creative process let me do my artist thing." In reality she was just trying not to scream.

"Uh... Okay I just wanted to let you know you won't be harassed by her anymore."

"I don't even care anymore."

"Are you alright? You've gone from rage, sadness to whatever this is. I'm asking because I'm worried for people's safety." He was actually worried about her, but was he allowed to admit that?

"I'm fine. I mean I just can't seem to get a good design, I haven't seen my fiancé in over a day and I'm tired of feeling like I'm the only one invested in our relationship."

"I'm feeling like you embellished the stable relationship thing in the interview… Well let me see what you've done so far." He picked a few of the crumpled balls of paper up off the floor, along with her ring and he set the ring down on her desk before opening the balls up to see. The first was covered in scribbles so he couldn't tell, and the second was okay so he moved on to the next two balls. "This is good." He set the sketch down with the woman's name in cursive then the bakery in all dots, then cupcake as the dot on top of the I. It was a bakery, you can't get overly creative.

"It's so stereotypical bakery. I don't know how to style it to make it look unique but still look bakery."

"Okay well how about something like this?" He grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper, and started to sketch his idea, and Christine watched so she would sooner see his final product. She watched his hands move, and she realized he probably at once was a designer.

"When did you stop drawing?"

"Uh four years ago I just couldn't make time for it anymore." He tried to ignore the awkwardness in the room, and he turned the drawing around once he was done so she could see it. She lifted it up and was amazed at his ability to be so detailed.

"It's a great start. There's a couple things I'd change, like maybe make the bottom font bigger and make the top a bit smaller? So it looks like it's sitting on it? Then try and make the lines in the font dots instead?" She looked at Erik for any reaction, and after a few seconds he nodded.

"Those are both good ideas. Feel free to make it yours, I was just trying to bring a different idea to the table so you maybe have a strike of inspiration."

"Well thank you, I'm pretty sure it helped." She took a moment to take her ring and slip it back on. She looked down at it and sighed. "You know how they say when you get a divorce sooner or later the ring is just another piece of jewelry you wear after a while?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pretty close to that point and I'm not even married yet. My fiancé is less than a mile away from our apartment and as I said, I haven't seen him in over a day. I fall asleep in the same bed as him twice a week if I'm lucky, and most of the time he's not there when I wake up at seven thirty."

"Is he working?" She nodded and put her chin on her hand so she didn't have to put any effort into holding her head up. "Well I mean he's doing his job-"

"Yeah but he can stop at six if he wants to, but instead he works twenty four seven."

"I'm not sure what to say then, besides maybe that it'll get better. Just hang in there and once he's done it'll be back to normal." He was horrible at giving advice, and he had given shitty advice before, but that was by far the worst he'd ever given.

"That's all I can do... Well thank you for helping. I really didn't mean to lose it at work, especially since that was what I was going to do this evening. Now I have to find something else to do."

"How inconvenience you must be." She smiled and as he set the pencil down and stood up she thought of something... Something probably not proper but she really didn't care. It was twenty sixteen and she could do whatever she wanted!

"Very... Want to grab a drink or something? I have a feeling you don't have plans and I don't anymore so let's just piss off our significant others and hang out. No tequila, and I'm craving chicken so you can pick if you want to go."

Erik didn't know how to respond, he didn't want to seem eager but he didn't want to seem not excited, but he also didn't want to seem interested. "Uh... Yeah no sure that sounds fun." He sounded like he'd rather pluck his leg hair out than hang out with her... Dammit.

"Okay, cool just let me know." Erik nodded and was thankful that she didn't take his tone as uninterested, or she ignored it. After he left her office she began working on the new logo.

. x .

"I ordered you a drink." Erik sat down, he had to run home before they got food, and so Christine took it upon herself to get a drink in her system before ordering his first and her second.

"Oh thank you." He had changed into... well actually he just got rid of his tie and, but he must of been more comfortable. He took a sip and coughed when there was enough booze in it to give him alcohol poisoning.

"Is it too strong? I think it's good." She drank hers, and Erik was impressed at her ability to drink it.

"Uh it's a little strong but it's fine. What is it?"

"Vodka... Mixed with a little bit of vodka then a tiny bit of soda to add some texture." He scrunched his face up and looked down at the glass... Next to Gin and Tonic that was one of the most disgusting things he'd ever heard of. "I'm kidding. It's a White Russian with double the happy juice."

"Oh you drink White Russians?" He prefered not a Russian drink with vodka, but he'd live.

"No. I'm just trying to seem mature. I prefer the Lemon Drop Martini or Caramel Spice Tea."

"Well then get the drink you like." Erik grabbed the nearest waiter who happened to be their waiter.

"Are you two ready to order?"

"No, actually can we get a Caramel Spiced Tea and a Berryoska Blackberry please?"

"Of course." The waiter left the table and Erik opened his menu, he really didn't know what sounded good.

"What are you getting? I've only been here a couple times but it was for a drink."

Christine opened her menu back up so she could find the meal she was getting. "Oh I'm going to get the Herbed Stuffed Chicken Breast. It has rosemary, goat cheese and canadian bacon with a side of roasted asparagus topped with garlic and parmesan. Hopefully I can get mashed potatoes with some type of white gravy."

"That sounds really good, I may get that." He continued looking through the menu, and when nothing piqued his interest he shut the menu and set it to the side. "I'm definitely going to copy you."

"You have good taste in food then. So... yeah." Christine checked her phone for any texts and when there weren't any she was disappointed to say the least. "How did you get the idea for the company?"

"I like to draw, as you know, and I wanted to make money off of it, and my first commission was this architect opening up a business. After that I just stuck with product design. After a year or so I bought a small building in Brooklyn, but five years ago I moved onto the island after the government put that small business reform out there making more people feel less... unsure about taking that risk. Business boomed and it hasn't stopped." Christine was impressed, anyone who could become a multimillionaire in less than fifteen years was amazing in her book.

"That's very impressive, now you're thirty, this has been a business for ten years- did you go to college?"

"Self taught." Her eyes popped out and Erik smirked at her reaction. It was the usual reaction after learning that piece of information.

"Holy crap, really? Was it hard or are you some genius who thought it was easier than two plus two?"

"It wasn't easy but it wasn't hard. Most people would've quit, but I knew I had some potential, and I couldn't ignore any slight chance of making something of myself."

"That's a lot of discipline to put on yourself." They thanked the waiter when he came to the table with their new drinks, and before continuing their conversation they ordered and had him take their bad drinks away.

"I didn't have many distractions until I met Maley." Christine could feel the awkwardness returning so she changed the subject... Well kind of.

"How is that going by the way? I know it's only been like a month or so, but any progress on the divorce?"

"It could be going better... we're filling the paperwork out, I'm trying to figure out how to keep my money and she's making it all as difficult as possible. I earned the money, why does she get it because she was married to me? If the roles were reversed I wouldn't be getting jack shit. I hate being a guy sometimes. The rest of the time it's great though."

"Only when you get the short end of the stick though? But then again I guess women are the same. Ugh I have my period? Well at least I'm not working on an oil rig haha I love being a girl most of the time." She picked at her nail as Erik laughed, and she enjoyed the almost childlike sound. It was innocent... She liked innocent.

. x .

The night ended up being surprisingly nice, and she wouldn't complain about doing it again next time she was being ignored. "So thank you for dinner. Next time I'm paying."

"Don't worry about it. I like being able to spend money on myself and my friends at home. It makes all the work I do seem worth it."

"I'm a friend?" She didn't know if that was a good or bad thing, honestly. But either way, she was never more excited to rank up on someone's list.

"If you want to be I wouldn't complain. You're a breath of fresh air, and also it keeps my friend Nadir off my ass so I may have an ulterior motive, but it's mostly because you're highly entertaining and know how to keep a stimulating conversation going."

"Well thank you, and I will happily be your friend." Her phone began buzzing in her purse, and she looked to see if it was Raoul again. He had called three times during dinner and she wasn't going to pick up until he was home.

Erik smiled and rubbed his hands together since they were getting kind of numb. "Awesome, okay I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"See ya." She hurried into her building once Erik backed away from the steps she had been standing on to get back in his warm car. Christine on the other hand had short trek up to her warm home and pajamas which were calling her name.


	6. Chapter 6

Her good mood was put to rest when Raoul was home, and he looked pissed... At her no less! "Where the hell have you been?"

"Sorry, mom, I lost track of time. Who the fuck do you think you are? You're gone a day and I don't bother you once yet I go out with my friend for the evening because I assumed you'd be at work and you're furious? No cut the bullshit I'm not going to do this." Christine set her purse down, and grabbed her phone before going into her room to change.

"I tried calling you five times and you rejected every single one."

"Congrats? As I said- I was out with a friend because of your inability to come home and we were having a nice time. I wasn't going to invite this situation into a good night! Now get off your goddamn high horse before I take you off myself." She tossed her phone on the bed, and she rolled her eyes when it bounced off the edge of the bed onto the floor.

"I just wanted to know where you were!"

"Why? I don't have to fucking tell you where I am every second of everyday! Once you start coming home and acting like my fiancé again maybe I'll tell you, but until then you can just wait for a call." She tried escaping into the bathroom, but he stopped the door from shutting and Christine nearly screamed. Did she not have a right to privacy?

"Would you stop pointing out my inability to be home every night?"

"Gladly, once you come home every night." She smiled and tried shutting the door, but groaned when he kept it open.

"Would you stop being such a sour brat? I'm trying! It's not my fault me trying involves in me being gone a lot." Her body went numb and she tried to pull in her anger, but she was just so mad! He had the balls to demand all these things from her when she couldn't even politely request something and get it!

"Maybe you should stop being a douche bag." She pulled her ring off for the second time that day and threw it at Raoul. "Once you do, come fucking talk to me. Until then start canceling the wedding because I am done. You are gone most of the time, you're controlling and demanding and I'm not happy with you anymore!" She felt like she got her point across to him, now all he needed to do was fix his shit and beg her to come back. "Now if you'll excuse me," she squeezed past Raoul with her pajamas in hand, found the small suitcase that would hold her over, and started to pile everything she'd need for a day or two away in there. "I'm going to go now." She put the bag over her shoulder and moved into the family room to pick her purse up.

She just hoped Meg's couch was open for the next night or two. If not she would go to a hotel. It wasn't like New York City was lacking them. Then again she really didn't want to spend three hundred dollars on a room... That was a lot of money. She could always swallow her pride and come back, but she really didn't want to do that.

. x .

Apparently Meg was out of town, so Christine sat in front of Meg's door for a little while trying to figure out where to go next. She could try Jackie, but they weren't at that level of friend yet... Hotel it was. She stood up and left the building, and she started the walk to a hotel near work so she didn't have a long walk in the morning. On her journey, she was pretty paranoid despite there being tons of people around, and when a familiar looking car pulled over and rolled it's window down she felt a little bit better. "Hey, what are you doing all the way over here? I just dropped you off at your place." Christine walked up to Erik's car and bent over so she could see him.

"I'm doing a power play with Raoul tonight and tomorrow night. My friend is out of town so I'm finding a hotel to hang out at. What are you doing over here?"

"I forgot my phone in my desk drawer. Can I drop you off somewhere?" Erik almost didn't believe what she was saying, but the suitcase was pretty solid evidence that she was telling the truth.

"If you don't mind a hotel where the only sex I'll be forced to listen to is the very expensive and tasteful porn that the hotel forces down people's throats."

Erik was silent as he pursed his lips, but finally he smiled. "I know a place." She laughed for some reason, and he unlocked the door so she could get in. "What's your power play exactly?" He noticed her ring fingers were bare, and he couldn't wait for the story.

"I told him to get his shit together, and once he did I'll date him again, but as of now I'm bitterly single."

"And you think it'll work?" Christine shrugged her shoulders and Erik decided she didn't want to talk about it, so he focused on driving.

. x .

When the car stopped Christine gathered her bags, and she was going to thank him but he turned the car off and was out before she could. So she opened the door and looked at Erik who was making his way to her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna pitch in, c'mon."

"What do you mean pitch in?" Christine got out of the car and she followed him inside. "You aren't expecting me to let you pay for my plan, are you?"

"What? Of course not, but I'm your boss so I can ignore you." Her jaw dropped and she was going to argue, but he made it to the front desk before she could... Stupid long legs. She practically had to run when he'd walk at full speed. "I need a room, for however long on-" he grabbed his wallet and her glare remained. "this card." He handed her one of his many debit or credit cards and the woman smiled as she was supposed to and took the card.

"Of course. Any preference for the room?"

"Whatever is open."

"I can do that." She looked at the computer giving Christine time to disagree with the current event.

"Erik you are not paying for my childish attempt to get my way."

"And why not?"

"Because the only reason you're here and aware of the situation is because we ran into each other."

"And your point is?" Erik knew what she meant, but he figured it was the least he could do after she helped him so much. "I'm not making the connection."

"Your room is on the tenth floor, room ten-o-two." Erik took the room keys and and his card back, and he gave the keys to Christine. "Once you check out you have to sign the receipt."

"Okay, thank you." Erik walked over to the elevators and stopped a few feet away so they could talk. "Just let me do this for you since you helped me with my car and gave me a ride. I'll see you at work, stay safe."

"It cost me a dollar at most to give you a ride, Erik. This is well beyond any debt you feel you owe me."

"It's not about the price of what you did, it's that you did it. You didn't have to, yet you waited for me and then took me home. So, again, it's not about the two dollars, it's the moral payment. This is me doing something for you that you'll appreciate as much as I appreciated the ride."

Realizing Erik wasn't going to give in, she decided to give up since going to bed sounded nice. "Alright fine... Thank you."

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Christine."

"Night." Erik stood next to her for a few more seconds, hoping she'd invite him up to her room or something along that line for some fucked up reason. But to his relief, he snapped out of it, and decided he wasn't going to take advantage of her situation even if she invited him to. He didn't want to seem desperate. He gave her one more goodnight, then turned and left the hotel.

Once Christine knew he wasn't looking she let herself smile finally… He was far too kind.

. x .

After two days she still had nothing from Raoul which had started to concern her, maybe he was done? But then he didn't text her asking her to get her things so maybe he was just working on getting off the case? Wishful thinking she supposed. "So how is your power play going?" Christine was sitting in the cafeteria reading an article on a new possible way to cure cancer, but there was one of those every other year that everyone got excited about so she didn't believe it. She set her phone down and looked up at Erik.

"It's going... Slowly. I'm going to pay you back for the room."

"I will refuse every form of payment, and if you do manage to get the money into my account, I have your routing number and will put it right back in. Then we'll have a transfer off and it won't be fun. So just accept the help, okay?" He picked up a pretzel out of the small bag of them that he had, and Christine wondered if he had already eaten or something.

"Can I at least buy you a sandwich? For two bucks extra they'll cut the crust off."

"Two bucks extra, huh?" He noticed she was lacking the crust on her bread and made a mental note of her maybe not liking crust. "That's one hell of a deal, however unless it's on wheat bread, I like crust."

"I like it on sourdough but that's it."

"Why? Texture, flavor or just a thing you don't like?"

"Partially texture, partially taste... You're distracting me from my question, can I buy you a sandwich? Or maybe some soup... Or..." She really didn't know what they had besides that. There was soup, sandwiches and cookies. Well at least that's what she cared about. Erik sat down after Christine pushed the chair across from her out with her toe as an invitation, and he rubbed his hands while deciding.

"Well I mean I have a meeting in twenty minutes but I can probably fit a sandwich in. What's good here? I haven't eaten here in awhile so I don't know."

"Well I personally like the gyro sandwich. It's a toasted fricotta roll with tzatziki sauce, red bell peppers, onions and cucumbers then feta and gyro meat. I forego the cucumbers." She took a bite of her sandwich since it was far too good to let it sit on her plate for long amounts of time.

"I'll try that. I like Greek food."

"Okay cool." She got up from the table and walked over to the line to buy the sandwich, and once she was in line her phone started doing its doot's, and she was pleasantly surprised when it was Raoul. "Hello? Who's this?"

"You're hilarious. I'm dying laughing on the inside. I tried getting off the case but Mason said I'm too far into to drop out."

"Yet you can go on our honeymoon?" She got up to the register and moved the phone away. "Can I get the Greek sandwich combo please?" She handed the cashier the five she had, then returned to her call.

"Apparently so."

"Y'know we've had an excellent streak of not lying to each other, however I'm feeling that you're breaking that right now." Christine put the change in the tip bowl and moved over to where they made the sandwich and handed it to you along with your cup and cookie.

"What? Why would I lie to you?"

"Because you really don't want to leave this case, but you also really want me to come back."

"I would never lie to you, Christine. I'm hurt that you'd think that."

"Okay yeah you're totally lying to me. Call me back when you're either you've actually tried to get off the case or want me to get my things." She hung up and put her phone in her purse, and she smiled and thanked the person as she took the food and cup. She figured tea was a safe drink to get him, and she grabbed one of each of the sweeteners just in case. She hurried back to her table and sat down, and set the things in front of Erik who was doing something on his phone. "Everything okay?"

"Hmm..." He took a few more seconds to do whatever then set the phone down and looked at Christine. "Yeah fine. Just uh personal stuff."

"Ah... Well it seems my power play is going to be lasting at least two more days. He tried lying to me and saying he couldn't step down from the case because he was too far into it, yet we might be going on a honeymoon in April. So he lied to me and doesn't want to ask meaning at least two more days for him to either ask or have me get my things... I should probably start apartment shopping just in case, huh?"

"Probably. I'm amazed he isn't taking you more seriously. I would." Stabbed the straw into the lid of his tea and had a drink. No sugar. Got it. "Anyone who spends more than three minutes around you knows you're serious when it comes to big decisions." Erik unwrapped his sandwich and gave it a once over before taking a small test bite. "Thank you for lunch."

"Oh you're welcome. I couldn't let you eat pretzels for lunch especially when you have a meeting coming up. Do you like the sandwich?"

"Yeah it's actually pretty good." He usually didn't like gyros due to the feta, but he was surprised when he actually liked the feta the most. His tastebuds must of been changing. "So what inspired you to get into design?" He wanted to know everything about her. Even how she liked her steak cooked. He was fascinated by her.

"Nothing really. I wanted to go a more creative route and I figured this one was the more practical one. Unlike art or something like that."

"Do you like drawing or is it just something you do to get by?"

"I love drawing... I'm not a fan of the industry I'm in but oh well. I'm making money which is something I couldn't say had I taken my original route."

Erik noticed she was avoiding what she originally had planned for her degree. "What did you originally want to do?"

"Uh... Fashion." That wasn't the complete truth, but it was close enough to keep her conscious clean.

"Oh. Yeah that's a dead end for anyone without connections, unfortunately." She nodded while taking a bite of her sandwich, and Erik hoped he didn't say something wrong.

"Which is why I am working here. There's a lot of things people would prefer to do with their lives, but unfortunately most of us end up doing the smart thing instead of the thing that would make us happy."

"That's very true. I think everyone in business would've rather done something else, honestly. Like who wants to dress up everyday and work in an office? It's only a dream job for the money, but even then only the lucky few end up making a large amount of money."

"That is also true. You're one of the lucky few, yet you're not even happy. I can't imagine the people making thirty an hour are feeling." Christine realized she let her observation slip, and so needless to say her butt kinda puckered up as Erik stared at her.

"What makes you think I'm not happy?" He wasn't mad, he was somewhat annoyed, but only because he realized he let someone stare long enough to realize what he was feeling. Yet she was his friend so she had the right to be that close.

"C'mon, you're getting a divorce, your wife is Satan and you work way too much. You have to be somewhat unhappy. Plus you never go out so I'm assuming besides me, that man is your only friend. You're lonely, and you think you like it but you really don't." Erik didn't like people reading him so well, and naturally he got on the defensive.

"Well they say it takes one to know one, so why are you unhappy? Great job that doesn't follow you home, at least three friends, a lawyer fiancé and no social barriers stopping you from getting what you want."

"Well the lawyer fiancé is on hold, I do have four or five friends, I do have a great job thanks to you, and I'm too shy to go and get what I want. If what I want doesn't come to me I probably won't get it... Why I'm unhappy is because I want a family. Not my own children, but a brother or sister, and I want my parents back. I have no one in my name. My only family is Raoul's, and despite them being kind of welcoming I still feel like I'm standing outside looking in. Nothing feels worse than not having a family. I could never see Raoul again, and not having my parents would still feel worse." He remembered her mentioning they were dead, and he was curious how they died but he didn't want to pick at that crumbling wall. "But I'm happy besides that I guess... At least I would be if I weren't marrying a work obsessed asshole."

"Well technically you're not. He has the ring and has lied to you, why marry him when he's not willing to put any effort into finding a solution to your guys problem? I'd go, pack your stuff and run. Run before you make a mistake and realize you won't be happy with him. Run before you have to go through a divorce. My divorce is probably a bit different than what yours would be, but let me tell you it is not fun. The amount of paper they make you two fill out- I almost think it's their attempt at couples counseling without requiring it. Except if you hate the person enough you probably just want to hit them upside the head with the baby tree that's on your table."

"No he's a good guy and I love him, I can't just run. If he actually drops the case, he'll listen and we'll work it out. If I do leave him it's not going to be right now. He's usually so invested in the relationship, but this case came along and it's messing with his head."

Erik didn't understand how she could forgive lying so easily. "You're right. Besides it's none of my business." He didn't know what possessed him to open his face. Probably because he was pessimistic at that point.

"Thank you for your concern though." She sipped at her drink as they both tried to think of something to say to get through the awkwardness. "So is there anything that you think she's going to fight you for?"

"Uh..." He really couldn't think of anything that she cared enough about to fight over besides the money. "Not really. I mean maybe the condo but I wouldn't fight her over that. She can have it."

"Well that's good. Maybe-" Christine stopped when Erik's phone started ringing, and he quickly picked it up after glancing at the screen.

"Hello?" He stood and mouthed thank you to Christine while gathering his sandwich, cookie and drink, and she smiled and waved as he hurried out. "Well tell him to wait! He's here early, and I'm trying to eat! I'm on my way but tell him I'm going to eat once I'm up there." He moved out of view and Christine sighed while picking her sandwich up to finish eating it.


	7. Chapter 7

Five days into her protest her phone began buzzing, and Christine picked it up after seeing it was Raoul. "What do you want?"

"My boss has banned me from the building after six. Happy?"

"I would say yes but you added the asshole happy at the end of your sentence." She continued flipping through her guilty pleasure celebrity gossip magazine as Raoul remained silent on the other end of the line.

"Okay you're right, I'm sorry it was an asshole happy..." Christine heard him sigh and his voice grew audibly softer. "Will you just come home, please?.. I miss you."

"How has he banned you?"

"He has night security lock me out and they won't let me back in." She laughed before covering her mouth to stop herself, and she climbed out of bed to grab her suitcase which she had been living out of.

"I'm on my way home. I'll be there in an hour or so."

"Okay... I love you."

"I love you too." Christine hung the phone up and zipped the suitcase open, then she went into the bathroom and began packing her things up.

. x .

When Christine got home she opened the door and Raoul was in the kitchen, and he stopped what he was doing when he heard the door click. They both stood there for a few seconds before Christine gave in and ran over to him, then jumped onto him. He grabbed her so she didn't fall and kissed her hard enough that she knew how much he had missed her. "I missed you so much." Christine pecked his lips and he smiled before pressing his forehead against hers. "Please don't ever give me a reason to leave you again."

"I'll do my best." Raoul set her down despite his hesitance, and he grabbed her engagement ring off the counter. "Would you like to do the honors or should I?"

"I can." Christine thought it was only right for her to put the ring back on when she was the one who took it off. She took the ring from him and slipped it back onto her ring finger, and they smiled after seeing it back where it belonged. "So what are you cooking?"

"Well I went and grabbed some steak, potatoes and salad makings, and I'm making that panned seared rosemary butter steak you liked. Does that sound good?"

"That sounds fantastic. I've been meaning to make that, but with the new job I've been too tired to cook fancy."

"Understandable." He put his arm around her and pulled her closer to him as he flipped the steaks over. "Maybe we can watch a movie and enjoy ourselves?"

Christine's heart dropped when she realized what he wanted, and that's when she moved away and crossed her arms. Raoul on the other hand was at a loss as to what he did. "Really? Were you hoping that if you gave me what I wanted that I'd have sex with you?"

"What? No, I meant cuddle, talk and catch up. I'm waiting till you're comfortable with the idea of having sex, and if that's after we get married then so be it." She heard the sincerity of his words, and she returned next to him so they could be near each other.

. x .

"So where have you been staying the past few days?"

Christine didn't even think about it before saying the actual hotel name. "The Hawking."

"What?" Raoul sat up and Christine prepared for the storm. "That place is like six hundred a night! Christine you did not spend that much to make a point!"

"No I didn't. I ran into my boss and he paid for it since I helped him with his car being destroyed. He's very generous when someone helps him."

"You let him pay for your childish move? Christine what the hell is wrong with you?"

"So I'm an idiot for paying it myself and am a child when I let him pay for it? He's a multimillionaire, he can afford it!"

"Our personal life is our personal life! I don't want him in on every little fucking thing that happens!" Raoul got out of bed, and Christine shook her head as she crossed her arms.

"It's not my fault you give me shit to talk about! That's what he and I do! We talk about our failing relationships while drinking alcohol." Christine followed suit and got out of bed, and that caught Raoul's attention.

"What do you mean failing relationship?"

"It's obvious, Raoul, and it's not going to get better until you start working on yourself. This fix, it's obviously temporary."

"What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Working late, never returning my calls or texts, being so mad at me when I'm out with friends the night you do decide to come home that it's ridiculous, taking it all yet demanding more and more from me. I can only give so much before I break."

"What will happen when you break?"

"And that is why we're failing. Instead of fixing your shit you just worry about what I'd do if I were to break. You'll push me past my breaking point as long as it means you don't have to change… I'm sleeping on the couch tonight." Christine grabbed her pillow and phone, and she left the bedroom leaving Raoul to himself.

. x .

"He's such a dick." Christine covered her face with her hands, and Erik tried to think of a way to help her.

"I'm sorry. Maybe it's time to call it quits?"

"Maybe. I hate giving up, but he won't listen." She looked up and grabbed the shot glass that was newly refilled in front of her. She and Erik clinked their shot glasses before putting them down, and Christine watched as Erik sucked on a lime. "And God only knows how many times he's fucked the cute secretary there. Probably a lot. I don't have sex with the guy."

"What? How do you not have sex with your fiancé?" Erik turned as he leaned against the bar. He wanted to hear her explanation.

"I don't know. I just don't."

"So- so what you're telling me is that you don't have sex with your fiancé? Good lord, your relationship is as bad as mine. I haven't had sex with Maley in three years."

"Talk about blue balls."

"Oh I stay busy enough it's not a problem. She just… Nah. I don't want my dick any where near that woman. Like it reverts back inside me at the thought." Christine giggled, and she picked up her glass of whiskey to sip at until the next round of shots came.

"She's honestly not that attractive. Maybe it's because I know her personality? But like my girl side just repulses at the idea of sleeping with her."

"What do you mean by girl side? Do you like the lady's too?" Erik was glad he accepted her offer get drinks. It was turning out to be rather interesting.

"I mean y'know." Christine hid her smile by taking another drink of the amber liquid in her glass. "I may have a couple encounters in my past."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It's not relevant to my job, that's why."

"Of course it is. I have to hire so many of different races, sexes and sexual orientations. I hired this obnoxious accountant who shouldn't be an accountant to make up for losing a gay guy last month. I can fire him. Thank Christ."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Christine was appalled that the government would put people's worth based on their skin color, sex and sexual orientation, and not their skill level.

"Nope. I thought it was a joke at first, but I got a nasty gram a couple years into starting the company because I didn't have enough Asians. It's like sorry, isn't it racist to hire someone because of their skin color? Or is that just my white maleness thinking that?"

"I mean I'd view it as whatever-ist. I wanna be hired for my skills, not things about me I can't change. Sheesh. Well yeah. I'm technically a part of the LGBTA group no matter how much they hate bisexuals." Christine finished her whiskey, which meant it was time to call the bartender over.

"Why do they hate bisexuals?"

"Because I'm not exclusively into my sex. They think I can detach whenever I decide I wanna date a guy. Stupid shit like that. It's whatever, I don't need a group to validate who I am."

"Yeah. Well I'm so firing that guy Monday. He's such an idiot."

"You do you boo boo." Christine flagged the bartender down, and she tried to decide what she wanted. "Can I get more whisky, and four more shots? All what we previously had. Thank you."

"And a glass of the best bourbon you have. No ice, make it a double." The bartender started pouring the drinks, and Christine sighed.

"Anyway, back to our chat. Your wife is fucking ugly. What did you see in her?"

"A vagina that didn't throw up at the sight of me. Even after a while she wasn't even a vagina. Just a money hungry woman who didn't throw up at the sight of me."

"So you settled then." Christine gave the guy a five once the drinks were poured, and she did the two shots first.

"Yeah basically. What are you doing, Miss I Have The Same Quality Sex Life as The Guy Who's Getting A Divorce?"

"Listen we're talking about you, not me." Christine felt the booze starting to take effect, which meant she was doing a good job. "Okay no more shots. Just whiskey then beer."

"That's a good plan. You're a lot smaller than me, and even I'm feeling the alcohol already."

"Oh yeah I'm gonna be super drunk super soon. I'm a lightweight too so that makes it even worse."

"You're kidding. A lightweight that can drink liquor like a lumberjack? That's a great mix."

Christine laid her chin down on the rim of her glass and sighed. "Right? I should go pee while I can still walk."

"Probably." Erik watched as she groaned before standing up, and she walked to the back of the bar towards the bathrooms. He pulled his wallet out and started to contemplate which card to pay the bill with once they were done, when after not even five minutes, Christine threw herself at Erik's back.

"Boo! I went pee." Erik looked back at Christine, and she looked absolutely wasted. Five minutes.

"Yeah? In the ladies room? You were only gone like five minutes. I can't even get in and out of the guys bathroom in five minutes on a Friday night."

"I may have used the boys bathroom. The line was too long for the girls."

"Whatever works for you." He watched her sit down, and she drank a good half of her glass of whisky.

"What's your favorite part about me? I really like your hair." Christine ran her fingers through his hair, and she smiled when it was as thick as it looked.

"Your personality."

"Gaaaaay! I mean like body features. Hair, eyes, tits, butt, legs. What is it?"

Butt. "Your eyes. They vary from a forest green to an almost teal blue depending on the day."

"My eyes change colors? Oh my fuck that's amazing! I'm a superhero!" She picked her glass up, and finished it off. "I need more."

"Maybe you should go to beer now. You're pretty fucked up already."

"Nah I'm good. More whisky please Mister Bartender!" Christine laid her head against Erik's arm, and she sighed. "I just wanna be happy. Is that too much to ask? I give and give, and he keeps taking until I have nothing left to give, then he gets mad at me." Christine mumbled a thank you to the bartender as she hugged Erik's arm, and he put down his second shot while looking down at her.

"You alright?" Christine shook her head, and Erik sighed. "Wanna leave? I'll take you home and you can sleep all the liquor off."

"No. I wanna sit here and enjoy my night. No more Raoul talk. No more Maley talk. We are gonna have fun and say fuck it." Christine picked her glass up now that it was refilled, and Erik could toast to that.

"Fuck it." They clinked glasses, and Erik smiled as they drank.

. x .

"I didn't think you were a dancer!" They found their way to a club that they were most definitely too old to be in, but fuck it, right? Christine swapped the whisky out for water, and she grabbed a slice of pizza to help get rid of some of the booze in her system, so after an hour or so she was back to a nice buzz.

"Why is that?!" Erik nearly stopped when Christine took his hands and put them on her hips, but he went with it since he could only take his hands away so politely.

"Don't know!" She giggled despite knowing he wouldn't be able to hear her, and she pressed her body up against his.

"What are you doing, Christine?!" He hated the music at that point. He wanted quiet so he could talk to her.

"I'm dancing, silly!" She turned around so she was facing him, and she grabbed his hands before starting to jump when the song changed so a very jumpy song.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom! I'll be right back!"

"Mmkay!" She let go of him and continued dancing as if he hadn't left. He hurried off the dance floor and towards the bathroom, where he leaned over the sink and sighed. He appreciated the muffled music. He could actually think and figure out what she was doing. He wasn't a pro at being friends with someone, but he was pretty sure dancing like that isn't common practice. He looked over at the door when someone started pounding on it, and he took a deep breath to prep going back out there. He opened the door, and he stumbled back when Christine pushed the door open and hurried into the bathroom. "Shit I need to pee."

"This is the guy's bathroom."

"It is?" She looked at Erik, then the urinal, and safely assumed he was correct. "Oh. Oops. Sorry about that. I'm gonna back out slowly and pretend like this didn't happen." Christine took a big step back, before turning around and hurrying out of the bathroom.

. x .

Christine woke up to a banging noise, and she groaned when she opened her eyes and she was in a car. She looked over, and when Erik was passed out next to her she was relieved she'd managed to not be kidnapped throughout the night. She looked towards the banging noise, and she opened the door when it was the Nadir fellow. "Jesus Christ. For the love of god shut the fuck up." She wasn't sure how much she had to drink, but she was feeling it. She groaned and held her face in her hands when the parking garage started spinning. "What do you want?"

"Stop talking." Christine reached over and put her hand over Erik's mouth, but it was short lived when most of the liquid in her stomach suddenly came up. Which made her feel better, but Nadir was standing in the blast zone unfortunately. Everyone was silent, until finally Erik disrupted the silence by busting out laughing. "Oh my god! That's the greatest thing I've seen in so long!" Erik didn't care about his headache, his friend had disgusting, alcohol filled vomit all over his clothes as shoes. "Fuck that's amazing."

"Oops. I am so sorry. This is what happens when I don't lay long enough after waking up with a hangover."

"Yeah. Anyway, what do you need?" Erik was highly annoyed by Nadir waking them up.

"Why are you two asleep in your car? It's weirding people out."

"Where are we?" The night got blurry about three am for Erik.

"The parking garage at work." Erik sighed, and he noticed Nadir was trying not to smile.

"We walked here from a club, and we must have passed out before I could drive her home or something. I don't remember."

"We were going to drive to Canada because I don't know why." Christine couldn't believe they almost drove to Canada. Erik was thankful they didn't make it out of the parking garage. That was way too long of drive for his taste.

"Wow you two were drunk. Well I'm going to go home and change."

"Send me the dry cleaning bill." Christine laid back down, and Erik shook his head when Christine shut her eyes, then pointed to himself. He wasn't going to make Christine pay for a dry cleaning bill when Nadir shouldn't have bugged them. Nadir shut the door, and Christine flinched at the loud thwap that her head didn't appreciate. "I'm thirsty, and nauseous and tired. I haven't had that much to drink since my twenty first birthday."

"No? I don't think I've ever had that much to drink… I had fun though."

"Yeah same here. We should do it again, but with less drinking sometime."

"Definitely. I guess I should get you home." Erik pressed the button to raise his seat. Christine looked at the time, and when Raoul was going to be home still she really didn't want to go home. She didn't even have to look at her phone to know she was going to get an earful when she got home.


	8. Chapter 8

"Christine!" She stopped what she was doing while Raoul hurried out of our room with his pants hanging down around his knees, and that caused Christine to raise her eyebrow. She was still mad from the night before, and Raoul pretending it didn't happen didn't help. Amazingly enough Raoul didn't yell at her after being gone all night, which she wasn't going to complain about.

"Yes?"

"My boss just offered me two tickets to the sold out Medals concert!"

"Oh cool." She wasn't a fan of Medals, it was more Raoul's thing, but she figured it was a night with Raoul so she really couldn't be picky. "When is it?"

"Tomorrow at seven. Want to go?"

"Yeah sure... Can you pull your pants up now?" Raoul didn't realize they had fallen so once Christine pointed them out he quickly pulled them back up. "Thanks." Christine wanted to throat punch him for some reason, probably because of her hormones.

"We can grab a drink before we go and just make a nice night out of it. Sound fun?"

"Mhm. I'll be ready at five forty five." She finished emailing Jackie before grabbing her purse off the counter. "I'll see you tonight... Or tomorrow. Just text me with whichever it is." Raoul noticed a difference in her voice… Exhaustion? Maybe some indifference. He couldn't tell which honestly.

. x .

Christine had to do her best not to be coarse with everyone, but the sleepiness mixed with the cramps and PMS she was like a ticking time bomb that she really hoped someone she liked didn't detonate. Thankfully the day went well, however she realized instead of focusing on her work, she was thinking about Erik... Why? She had no clue, probably because he was interesting which she needed in her life. She tried to rationalize it all being due to her hormones, but then her annoyingly rational part of her brain said that hormones also caused her love for Raoul so really she still didn't have a good excuse... Needless to say she had a bit of an argument going on in her mind, but she managed to get her work done in spite of it all.

The next day was pretty much the same, just a different dress and pair of shoes, and when the night of the concert came around Raoul told her he'd meet her at the bar, and there she was sitting at the bar at seven waiting for him still. She knew he wasn't going to show up, but when it actually happened it hurt, she had been looking forward to spending time with him... She decided to drink since she didn't like Medals anyway, and on her third beer she finally put her face against the bar and tried not to start crying. The feeling went away when she nearly screamed when someone touched her shoulder, and she groaned when it was Erik. "What? Can I help you or something?" Okay so maybe it wasn't her third beer... It was her third Bud Light. They had at least five different brands there though so she was having fun. "You're just always where I am and it's honestly kind of weird and creepy."

"You text me." He held his phone up showing her the text, and she squinted at the phone for a minute before pursing her lips.

"Okay good point I'll give you that, but why are you here?" She went to take another drink of her beer but frowned and looked down at her hand when Erik took it from her. He needed to get her home so she didn't get in any trouble.

"You asked me to come over. Why are you drunk? It's only eight." She giggled as he moved her from her seat, and he tried to bend away when she leaned back into him when he was soft and warm.

"You always smell good." She stumbled down the two steps of the bar and landed on her hands and knees, and after realizing it she began to laugh. Erik on the other hand picked her up and wrapped her arm around his waist so she'd stay up. Her attention was brought back to his aroma when they started walking again. "Like cinnamon and cologne. I could eat you right up."

"Why are you drunk at eight pm, Christine?"

"Uh..." She looked for the answer while looking for something to eat on the street carts. "Fiancé and I were gonna go to a concert but he never showed up for drinks. The concert started at seven, and here I am spending the night alone. Oh goody I love being alone. I can walk around naked and pee without closing the bathroom door. Being alone is magical! Just fucking magical... I'm gonna die alone." That's when the drunk crying kicked in, she again, didn't mean to but it just kind of happened. "God I hate how good you smell. It's like you rolled around in Gingerbread before coming here."

"You're not going to die alone so don't say that."

"How do you know? I have a fiancé that still won't spend time with me, and you have all of the women in the world. Which one of us is stuck? I am! I'm stuck with a prick ass lawyer and I can't do anything about it!" She kept smelling all the food from the food carts and she decided she was starving. "Stop I'm hungry." Erik sighed and let go, and she tripped over to the cart, but caught herself which she was very proud of. "I got it I got it don't worry." After Christine got money from her purse she looked at the menu and decided on a pretzel dog. "Can I get... A... Pretzel dog please? That'll be all." She set the five down and took the foil wrapped dog from him and smiled. "Danke." Then successfully walked back over to Erik.

"Did you just slip into German?"

"No I said thank you." She smiled as she unwrapped the food, and when she took a bite she giggled at how amazing it taste. "This is amazing! Five star food right here." She waved it around, but nearly dropped it so she stopped that and hugged the dog against her so she didn't drop it. "Why are you here? Are you following me?" She glared at the stalky like friend and took another bite of the hot dog, and Erik wasn't sure if he could handle her the entire walk back to her place.

"No, you text me asking me to meet you at the bar so I did."

"Then why aren't we at the bar drinking? I was having fun! I also didn't pay for my drunks."

"You have a tab there now."

"But I was drinking still. What do you think because I'm drunk Ich'll nehmen meine Kleider aus und haben Sex mit ihnen? Wenn so, dass's unfreundlich."

"Why do you keep talking in German?"

"I'm not! Stop saying I'm talking in German, Erik. Are you deaf? I said if you think because I'm drunk I'll take my clothes off and have sex with you, that's rude and you're thinking wrong. I am engaged and even he doesn't get lucky."

"No that's not what I'm thinking, and I know he doesn't get lucky. You told me that the other night at the bar." He honestly had no clue how much she had to drink, but he was starting to guess a lot.

"Okay good." She resumed eating as they continued their walk, and by the time they got to her place her feet were killing her. "Dank you." Christine smiled as she looked for her keys in her purse, and Erik was ready to run away from her for the night, and he also planned on avoiding drunk Christine from now on. "So um I just am really sad and I'm probably going to go inside and cry myself to sleep."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Tomorrow will be a better day." He stepped towards the elevator, which went unnoticed by Christine thankfully.

"Will it though? I mean he's been like this for months. I don't think it'll be any better. I think it'll be worse because I'll have a hangover. What's the point at this point? I don't think I'll go to work tomorrow. That'll make my day a tiny bit better." She unlocked her door and opened it while looking at Erik. "Do you wanna come in? I have chocolate cake in the fridge. It's really good."

"Uh no I'm good, thank you though."

"What about these? They're pretty good too." Christine pulled her shirt up, and after the initial shock of being flashed he looked away. He definitely made the right decision coming to the bar. He helped her get home, and he got a quick glance of her breasts.

"Christine this is getting far too unprofessional. I'll see you at work tomorrow." She frowned and nodded as the drunk tears slowly returned.

"Okay. I'll see you around. Ni night." Christine walked inside then shut and locked the door. Then she put her forehead on the door and took deep breaths in attempt to keep her emotions in check. Erik on the other hand had a tiny voice telling him not to leave her alone, but despite that voice he made his way downstairs and headed home.

. x .

Christine laid in bed crying, hoping for Raoul to come home, but when three am rolled around and he still wasn't home, the booze, lack of sleep and hormones made something click and she got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and started looking for anything to help, and when she found a prescription bottle for a big word she didn't understand that was Raoul's, she popped the cap off and put a large handful in her hand. She went into the kitchen and got some water, and once they were down she sat on the counter and waited to see what they did. It only took a few seconds to feel her heart start beating weird, which is when she panicked, and she realized what she did was stupid. She didn't want to die! Sure her love life was shitty but there's no excuse to do such a thing over a love life problem.

She ran for her phone and called Raoul, but when it went straight to voicemail the panic set in more and she started shaking as tears ran down her already tear stained cheeks. She called the next closest person, Erik, and after a few rings he picked up. "What, Christine?"

"I did something really stupid like a minute ago and I'm scared and Raoul's phone is off and I don't know what to do and you're the nearest to me."

"What did you do?"

"I don't know! I just took some pills and it sounded like a good idea at the time but now it doesn't and I'm scared and my heart is beating weird I don't know what to do."

"Okay well how many did you take? Two or three?"

"No like ten or fifteen. God I'm such a worthless idiot never mind." She hung her phone up and stood in the kitchen trying not to freak out. She couldn't even just kill herself without bugging someone. Why was she so useless? The world was better off without her anyway. Christine went back into her room and laid down in bed, and just waited to see what happened.

However not even five minutes later someone started banging on her door, and she hugged her pillow even tighter as it got more violent as she ignored it. It had to be Erik, but he wasn't ever going to get in so it was easy to ignore him.

… It took him four kicks to break the locks and get inside, which she found pretty impressive despite the fact that he just broke her door. "Christine? Did you throw them up?" She shook her head and he pulled her up which was when she began her protest.

"No! Just let me do this! It's what I want!"

"No it's not now throw the stupid pills up!" He would shove his hand down her throat if he had to. After she continued to fight him he shoved his fingers in her mouth as she said no to him for the twentieth time in two seconds. He ignored her biting him and wiggling around. Finally, she threw her head to the side, and he quickly got off the bed as she started throwing everything up on the far side of the bed. He waited for her to finish, and once she did all she could think about was throwing something at him… which she did.

She grabbed a pillow and launched it at him before she started yelling. "You fucking asshole I was doing something that was going to make me happy, and you came in here thinking you knew what I wanted and ruined it! I was so fucking close!" He ignored her rants and punches and picked her up off the bed, and he took them into her family room. He sat down on the couch with her in his lap, and after several attempts to keep up with her angry act she gave up, and just decided to cry. Christine found it odd sitting in his lap, and honestly they were going to never speak of it again, but at that time she mostly found it comforting. He was on the other hand trying not to feel guilty about leaving her earlier. He had seen the signs, but he didn't do anything because he was too damn lazy to stay around and make sure she was okay.

"I need to call nine one one." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and she started gripping his shoulders to try to not cry so loud, but it didn't work, however after feeling his shoulders she didn't want to stop touching them. They were like stress balls except not useless.

. x .

The ambulance finally arrived, and Christine had calmed some to his relief, and when they took her and put her on the gurney his lap immediately went cold, and he missed the feeling of holding her... What was wrong with him? He stood and followed them out, and went with her to the hospital since her fiancé couldn't find the time for her when she needed him most.

After running tests they decided the combination of the pills and alcohol would've sped the process up, but Erik thankfully got to her before any real damage was done. All she needed was some sleep and she could go home, which was where he stepped in. She tried to kill herself, she obviously needed help, and he wasn't going to have her going home and try it again. However before he could call a physiatrist in, the Lawyer showed up, which ticked Erik off who had been there all night with her, listening to her talk, occasionally cry and even scream a few times. "Christine what happened? I got home and the door was broken and there was vomit on the bed... Are you okay?" Christine really didn't want to talk to Raoul, he was never there when she needed him, he stood her up on dates and still was never home. Raoul noticed the boss guy sitting next to her bed and he tried not to be jealous, but he was. "Why is he here?"

"Because when she couldn't get ahold of you she called me. As you can see, she doesn't want to talk to you right now so I'd try again later."

What? Raoul nearly laughed, but his jealousy turned to annoyance. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"The guy who saved your fiancées life."

"Do you want a medal? That doesn't earn you talking rights. She can speak for herself buddy."

"If you're going to throw a hissy fit because I'm here then you need to leave because she's had a shitty night, and she needs to sleep. I'm not here to deal with your insecurities, I'm here to make sure she's okay." Erik was starting to get pissed off at the Lawyer. He came in and was starting a fight for what? So his ego felt better about another man being next to his fiancée? No he wasn't going to tolerate it.

"Why do you care if she's okay or not? She's just one of your employees, nothing else, right?" Christine could see what was about to happen, and she wanted to watch it so she remained silent.

The breast flashing came to mind, and the dancing at the club when Christine got rather close, but she was drunk, so those didn't count for anything. "Yes she works for me but we're also friends. Now leave her alone, you weren't there when she tried to kill herself so you have no right to be here now. The way you're treating her is toxic, and standing her up every night is hurting her. I can't wait to see her drop you on your ass after you continue to be a useless piece of shit." Erik really didn't know why he was angry, probably because she was such an amazing woman who deserved so much better than what she had, and the boy refused to see that.

"Why am I the piece of shit? I rarely see her because I'm busy working so she has a safe place to live, food to eat and money to spend. You know nothing about our relationship so be quiet! Do you think this was the first time she's done this? No! She's tried two different times, and I was there every single fucking time. I'm sorry that I wasn't there one out of three times, I'll work on it. Since y'know she gives us notice before she try's to kill herself."

"And why does she keep trying to kill herself? Have you even tried to get her help? You just sweep her to the side and give her attention when she needs it, and the fact that she tried killing herself after you stood her up says a lot about how she feels about the relationship and how you're treating her and it. Suicide isn't like a toddler throwing a tantrum. It's not something you sigh and roll your eyes at when they do it which is how you're treating it which is disgusting."

When it wasn't getting interesting she cut in since it was useless at that point. "Raoul, I've tried twice because of the depression that comes and goes, this time I tried to because I felt alone, useless and unloved, and out of all the people you brought those feelings on. You stood me up last night, you stand me up every night actually, but you weren't there when I needed you, and I honestly don't want to see you right now. We'll talk when I'm able to go home, but for right now just leave, please."

"Seriously?" She nodded, and Raoul tried not to be pissed off, but honestly it was hard not to be when your fiancée kicked you out of her hospital room. "Fine whatever." He left the room, and Christine sighed and shut her eyes since it meant she could relax again.

"Are my eyes really your favorite thing about me?" Christine looked over at Erik, and he seemed caught off guard by the question.

"Yeah. They sparkle when you smile, which is why I always try to make you smile." Christine smiled as she felt herself tear up.

"I feel like no one likes having me around. It's really easy to think when your own fiancé stands you up on a date." She wiped her eyes off as Erik leaned forward. "Sorry I don't know why I keep bothering you with this crap. You don't have to stay, I'll be fine." She wiped her nose with her hospital gown sleeve, and Erik reached out and put his hand over her's. Christine looked down at their hands, and she was admittedly confused, but it calmed her some despite it being odd.

"I don't want to go. You've very quickly grown to be a big part of my life. You're my friend, and I'm not going to leave you alone right now." She took a deep breath as she closed her hand over his. "So do what you need to do. Cry, talk, punch me, whatever. Just know I won't leave until you want me to."

"Thank you. I think I'm going to take a nap. I'm tired…" She laid her head back on her pillow, and Erik sat back while she held his hand holding him hostage. Erik watched as she laid there, and he waited for her breathing to slow so he could take his hand back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Authors note: Sorry about the delay, life has gotten pretty busy! Back to our regularly scheduled postings after tonight though! (And when I mean regularly scheduled I mean twice a week, usually Monday and Friday but sometimes that changes.) Enjoy :)**

* * *

Erik was able to find someone who was willing to go to Christine's home every day, and he gave her as many days off that she needed till she was in a better state of mind. He also made sure someone was at her place at all times, whether it was her friends or Nadir, he wasn't going to leave her alone. Of course like the coward he was he never stopped by and spent time with her. The other night had gotten far too intimate for his taste, and he couldn't handle the awkward situation. Despite the circumstances he enjoyed the feeling of her body in his lap, and watching her sleep was oddly soothing. It all felt right, but remembering she had a fiancé he stepped back. He couldn't get himself to do that to a relationship.

Christine, after coming back to the apartment felt like Raoul was doing his usual thing. Avoiding her, only talking to her when he had to, things like that. All the things that didn't make her feel any better. Luckily Meg demanded time off so she could spend time with Christine, knowing she had someone made it easier. "So I've got today lined up, and just let me know what you're up for. I'm thinking movies, pizza and chit chat. You have an appointment with your doctor at three, and while you two talk I'm going to run over to my work and fix something, then I'll come back once you two are done."

"Yeah that's fine..." She wanted to see Erik, but once she was out of the hospital he disappeared. "I think I'm going to take a shower."

"Okay. Once you're done we'll start the movies. Sound good?" Christine nodded and got up from the couch, then hurried into her room. Christine was feeling overwhelmed for some reason, so she hoped a shower would help.

. x .

Christine had taken a long shower, then laid down in bed to continue with the relaxing theme of her afternoon, and finally Meg got worried enough to check on Christine. Meg insisted they start watching movies, and to Christine's relief they were all comedies. Meg knew how to distract Christine after she got home from the hospital, since she was there both times it happened before. Meg being there for the third time made Christine feel some better about knowing she had people who loved her in her life.

Three o'clock came around, and Meg left and the doctor Erik found for her came, her name was Monica and didn't do last names... Christine couldn't decide how she felt about Monica, but she was willing to try if it meant being able to talk to someone outside of her life. "So Christine, you were recently at a bad point in your life?" Christine already wanted it to be over.

"I was drunk and felt like I hit a brick wall in my life that no one could dismantle."

"Why do you feel or did you feel that way?"

"Because my fiancé ignores me, and everything is changing and I feel like we're roommates, not an engaged couple. Now after this he avoids me like I'm some weird gross person."

"Well, why did you call Erik when you took the pills? If you feel that hopeless, why didn't you just let it happen?" Christine rubbed her neck while trying to answer her question without saying something wrong.

"Because, Erik is picking at the wall, whether I like it or not, and I realized that after I took the pills, and I was hoping he would keep picking on it, but he's awol and I don't think he's coming back. As my friend at least. Obviously he's my boss still."

"Now, how do you feel about that?"

"Sad? He was a friend, I don't have many of those so I enjoy it when I get a new one... Are you my relationship regulator or therapist?"

"I'm not regulating your relationships, I'm just trying to figure out why you turned to practically a stranger near death and not the man you plan on marrying."

"I already told you. My fiancé ignores me, Erik is my oxygen mask as I'm drowning. I can't give you more metaphors like he's helped me. That's why I called him, I see a future worth living for when I think of him, with Raoul I see a dead end."

"Are you in love with him?"

"No? He's a friend who I see hope in my future because, like why do you think that equates to love?"

"I don't know." Monica crossed her legs and waited for Christine to continue in hopes of her stumbling on a revelation.

. x .

"It was the worst." Christine sat down next to Meg, and took a bite of her cookie that Meg brought for her. "She asked me if I love my boss. Like he was the last person I saw that night, it makes sense that I'd call him, especially when Raoul never picks up."

"That's a silly question." Meg sipped at her milk as the movie started, and Christine hummed her agreement. "So how's Raoul doing this time around?"

"The same as the last two times. Not surprising though... I don't want to talk about that right now. Let's just watch this movie and have fun, okay? Raoul takes up practically my entire life, and I want to put an end to it."

"Understandable." Meg went silent since her friends first request was to watch the movie, and it was hard to do when talking.

. x .

Christine and Meg wound up building a fort, and when Raoul came home he was greeted by the living room full of blankets, and the sound of giggling women and whispering. When he heard his name his curiosity was burning enough for him to walk over to the entrance. When he pulled the blanket back there was a cushion blocking his view with a sign on it that said 'NO RAOUL'S ALLOWED... UNLESS YOU HAVE FOOD THEN MAYBE.' all while Christine and Meg continued to giggle. "What if I don't have food?"

"Then piss off!" Christine grabbed a peanut and tossed it at Meg's mouth, and when Meg caught it they squealed.

Raoul moved the cushion over and was impressed to see that they put some thought into the thing. "Did you guys make a fort hallway?"

"No! Get out!" Christine hurried to the entrance, and she pushed the cushion back in front of Raoul. "Read and respect the sign!" Christine wasn't sure why she was acting so immature, probably because it was fun, but also because it meant telling Raoul to fuck off a lot. "You don't listen to anything so I don't know why I'm surprised you didn't listen to a simple sign!" Christine crawled back to the right wing of the fort, and Meg was waiting with a peanut.

"Okay ready?"

"Yeah let's do it." Christine opened her mouth, and Meg threw it. When it hit her nose and bounced into her mouth, Christine started laughing. While dusting the salt off her nose Meg ate a few peanuts.

"I'm starving. Let's order pizza... We like pepperoni and garlic, right?"

"Yeah I love that. I'll hang here, you call call the usual place."

"Got it." Meg crawled out of their fort so she could grab her phone to order pizza. Christine laid down and stared up at the sheets, and when she heard Raoul lay down next to her, she wanted to scream.

"Go away."

"Why? You get mad when I don't spend time with you, but here you are getting mad that I'm trying to spend time with you."

"Because I'm just not in the mood for you, and our life right now. Just let me fucking hang out with my friend in my god damned fort and enjoy my life for a while."

"Why don't you enjoy your life outside the fort?"

"Because I'm still fucking with you." She sat up and crawled out of the fort, and Raoul just laid there. He was a bit hurt, but he had to admit had he been in her shoes he wouldn't enjoy being with himself either. "I'll pick the pizza up, Meg, I need to take a walk." Christine slipped her shoes on and grabbed a jacket, and when Meg nodded Christine left the house.

. x .

She hadn't been to her spot in a while, but she needed to unwind. Her friend who she hadn't spoken to in an equally long time, let her in through the stage door, and she joined him up in the rafters since her friend Miran dealt with lighting. "So what's playing now?"

"It's classics month, so Romeo and Juliet." Christine rolled her eyes and watched the runthrough anyway.

"I don't know how this passes off as a love story. They're two reckless kids with raging hormones."

"Aren't we all? If adults didn't feel obligated to do what was smart instead of what's best for your heart, what do you think we'd do? We'd go for the person we love and forget everything else. The repercussions, the risks and all of that. If adults had the freedom that children have, we'd do the same exact shit."

"I'm sorry but I wouldn't do all this for someone I met three hours ago."

"Not even Raoul?"

"Not even Raoul. _Especially_ right now."

"He being an ass again? I know last time you tried killing yourself he was a giant douche."

"He didn't have the opportunity to be a douche. I called my boss and he was in the hospital room, not Raoul. I didn't let Raoul in besides once which was when my boss told him off."

"Oh? What happened there?"

"Well I got drunk, and my boss took me home because we were hanging out, and it was dark, Raoul wasn't home and I was alone. It just kinda set in, and the booze made it worse. For some reason I thought swallowing a bottle of pills was a good idea. I called my boss when Raoul didn't answer, and he came and had me throw the pills up, and he didn't leave my hospital room till I was discharged."

"That was nice of him." Miran sat flat on his butt, and Christine did the same since her legs were starting to hurt. "Is there anything between you and the boss or is he just nice?"

"Eh. Like I want to vomit every time I see him, and he makes me feel awesome and special, but I'm with Raoul so it doesn't matter."

"But if there's someone you like more then you should be honest with yourself and stop wasting Raoul's time."

"Yes but the someone I like is a millionaire that is unobtainable. Besides, it's a schoolgirl crush."

"Okay." Miran looked down, and Christine's mind trailed off into Never Happeningland, and she liked it there. Raoul was home more than four hours a week, she would feel the way she felt about Erik for Raoul, and Erik would be a distant memory… but then she remembered Erik was an entirely new kind of attractive to her and she was loving it. He was smart, powerful and just… So amazing at his job and for some reason she found that highly attractive. Walking into his office when he's on the phone was always an amazing experience. He'd go on about things she had no clue about, but he knew what he was doing and was nearly flawless at it, so her hormones would just on queue turn on high and she'd have to leave the room quickly. Christine sighed and rubbed her neck to help get rid of what she was feeling, but it didn't help when all she felt was Erik's hand. She stopped and tried not to look as flustered as she was feeling, but Marin saw right through it. "I don't tell this to many people, but you need to get laid."

"I know. Believe me I know I just hate Raoul and I can't sleep with anyone else so I'm just waiting and hoping he'll get better, but it's killing me. I feel like I'm suffocating most of the time, and it just hurts at this point."

"You hate Raoul? Break up with him and sleep with your boss. There I solved all your problems. Plus with your boss being rich maybe you two will hit it up, and you can start doing what you've wanted to do since you were like twelve. Fashion."

"I'm not going to date my boss so I have a safety net. I'll date him because he is driving my body insane, and I love hi-" Christine caught herself since she was pretty sure it was the hormones talking. "His personality."

"Well until you sort your shit out buy a dildo and take some cold showers, because it's painfully obvious that you're in dire need of some penis." Christine covered her face as she laughed, partially he was funny, but mostly she was laughing so no one realized she was losing it. "Never mind. Just sleep with Raoul. Besides, maybe it'll bring you two back together and get you off your boss."

"Maybe." Miran rolled his eyes and let her work her own shit out at that point. He observed, commented and tried to assist. What she did with his advice was on her.

. x .

Christine went from the theatre to work. She wanted to see Erik, to talk about the first night at the hospital, and to see if he maybe was interested in more than friends. She could use knowing that. Also to see where the hell he's been. She got out of the hospital and he went AWOL.

She ignored being the elephant in the room the entire way up to the office, and she kept her head down the walk from the elevator to Erik's door. She eyed her grey sweats, black "I HEART NYC" hoodie she got from somewhere, and her boots. She looked like shit. Her hair was curly and pretty much everywhere, and her skin could've used some help. Then she realized she didn't care, and knocked on the door. "Come in!"

She pushed the door open, and shut and locked the door behind her. "Hi."

Erik looked up from his computer screen when it was Christine's voice, and his heart twisted up when he saw her natural hair for the first time. He wanted to feel it so badly. "Hi." He didn't really know what to say.

"Why haven't you come and visited me? I- I miss hanging out with you." Her head dropped, and Erik had a hard time saying anything when her hair covered her face.

"I didn't think I was welcome. Your fiancé made it clear that I crossed the line, and so I just stepped back."

Christine looked up at him, and he saw the fight back in her eyes… He was a goner. "And you listened to him why? You're _my_ friend, and I'm _my_ own person who can make her _own_ fucking decisions. Once he starts acting like a fiancé, he'll get a small say in who I'm friends with, but until then, we're besties." She stuffed her hands in her jacket pocket, and Erik tried to figure out something to say. "So I've run into a problem in my life."

Thank god. "Which is?" He watched as she started to slowly pace the width of his office.

"I'm unsatisfied in many aspects in my life, and I feel that you might be able to fix it." She sat down on the edge of his desk, and Erik felt himself starting to sweat.

"And in what areas are those?" He had never been so nervous in his life.

"Well I mean like… Y'know. Ever since I started working here I've not been able to stop thinking about you. I look forward to working everyday because it means I get to see you. Raoul has never comforted me like that before, nor has he ever treated me like you did after I was in the hospital. He avoids me and looks at me like I've not showered in a few months. You… Well didn't and don't. I think I like you… Like a lot." She looked down at her hand, and Erik couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What you said in the hospital… It kind of is how I feel about you. You quickly went from my boss to one of my most trusted friends, and now I have stronger feelings for you than my fiancé... Who I'm planning on leaving. I just need to get my shit together first." Christine started to play with her ring while Erik tried to figure out an appropriate response.

"I like you too, Christine, and I'm glad you're going to leave him, because it was starting to piss me off how he treated you. You deserve better than him."

"I don't know what I deserve, but it doesn't matter because I'd _really_ like to see what we're like. If I'm like out of your social range I understand-"

"Okay please stop. If you're not in my social range? What does that even mean?" Erik tried not to be hurt that she thought he was like that.

"I'm not wealthy. You could very easily think I'm out for your money, or- or something like that."

He sighed as he laced his fingers through her's. "I'm not some paranoid rich guy who thinks everyone is out to know me because of my money. I know that's not of importance to you, and I'd never consider it would be. So what do you want to do? I'm not in any hurry to date again, so it's not like I'll have ten women between now and when you're ready to start testing this out."

Christine started to smile, and she couldn't get rid of it. She definitely didn't want to wait. If she had to deal with her sudden hormone increase for any longer she was going to scream. "What I would like to do… This is just me, I'm open for input, is go to your place and talk some more." She didn't want to just leave after the things admitted. Plus she wanted to rip his clothes off.

"Well I'm not busy, so that's an option… Yeah let's do that." Christine smiled as he stood up from his desk, and she got off the desk once his jacket was on.

. x .

Christine hadn't paid much attention to Erik's building the night she dropped him off, but it was ridiculously beautiful. She couldn't imagine the price tag of living there. Outside was sleek steel and crystal clear windows, and inside was just as clean. The white marble tile ran through the entire building, and the walls were a dark cherry wood, with a large, rather overwhelming chandelier in the center of the room to light it up. The elevators were towards the back, and she couldn't help but feel out of place, until a woman with her dog left the elevator in similar clothes. They joined the group of four people that were going up, and once their floor was selected, Erik laced his fingers through her's. Christine looked down at his hand, and she tried to play it cool despite the flips her heart and stomach were doing.

One by one the elevator emptied out, and finally, they got up to Erik's floor which felt forever away the entire elevator ride. They walked to the end of the hall, and Christine was liking the dark wood walls from the lobby as flooring, and it was simple white drywall for the walls with a chair rail for some character. Erik pushed his door open, and Christine walked in after receiving his invitation to go first. His place was… Dark. Dark cherry wood floors like outside, black leather couches, black cabinets and granite, his dining room table was metal which she thought was kind of cool. Had Erik not had a wall of windows the place would've felt like a cave. "Nice place. It's a little dark though."

"Yeah Maley hates dark. So naturally I made everything dark." Christine giggled, and Erik went into the kitchen, grabbed two classes and a bottle of wine from his wine fridge. "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat, but I'm also fine if you are." She hated dealing with food at other people's houses. She felt so greedy. Erik opened up his fridge, and he was pleased to see his cheese plate was still intact.

"I have a bunch of different cheeses, pizza or tacos." Erik looked over at Christine, and she pursed her lips while considering her options.

"How about cheese plate and pizza? It's only fitting with wine to have cheese, and also I'm too impatient for tacos."

"What are you impatient for?" Erik pulled the plate and box of pizza out of the fridge, and when Christine shrugged her shoulders he flipped the box open. "How many slices? And pepperoni or sausage?"

"One pepperoni please." Erik nodded and grabbed the slices then heated them up in the microwave, and once they were done he grabbed the wine, and carried it over to the coffee table.

"C'mon." Erik sat down after shrugging his jacket off and laying it across the back of the couch. "So what's there to talk about?"

"I don't know. I mean we kinda admitted some big things back there." Christine sat down next to Erik, and she sat back against the couch. "I didn't think saying what we said then me just leaving wasn't really appropriate."

"Good point. So what do you want to do? I know you said you were planning on leaving the Lawyer, but until then?"

"I'm not sure." Christine picked up her slice of pizza when her stomach growled, and she took a bite. "I have a lot I need to do before I leave Raoul, but he makes me so miserable. You on the other hand… You make me happy." Christine set her hand on his knee, and Erik sighed as he set his hand over her's.

"I'm glad I can make you happy." Christine grabbed her glass of wine with her free hand, and she took a sip while moving closer to him. She needed some liquid courage.

"You make me feel a lot more than happiness."

"Oh?" Erik looked down at Christine, and he smirked as she chugged her glass of wine. "I like that too."

She wasn't sure what to say, so she went with her gut, which had proven not to be a good idea. "I like that you like that." She set her glass down once it was gone. She felt like she was in a shitty romance movie. "I may have lied about the talking thing."

"I knew you were before we even left the office." Erik reached to touch her cheek, but stopped when he reconsidered his options. He was in fact divorcing a woman partially because she cheated on him. "I think… Sex might be crossing the line."

"Are you sure?" Christine moved her hand from under his hand up to his thigh. "I'd hate to waste your gas bringing me here just to drink wine and eat cheese. Besides you knew I was lying, if you did why would you bring me here in the first place?"

"I thought about it some more, and I just think it's crossing the line."

"So flirting and repeatedly saying you want to date me isn't? If we're going to do awful things then let's just do it. You know there's something between us, we've just been ignoring it because of me, but now we don't have to." She moved up and onto his lap, and Erik grunted as she sat down. He did not have this much self control with her, so he was impressed he'd made it as far as he did.

"You could've fooled me. I thought you were just friendly when we were at the club that night."

"Oh I was drunk and decided to see what you'd do. I may have been trying to flirt as best I could in a loud club."

"Which is why I ran to the bathroom. We were drunk and I was painfully confused." Christine giggled as Erik remembered she was on his lap. "You might want to get off my lap."

"Why? I find it pretty comfy." She wiggled around until Erik grabbed her hips getting her to stop, and she giggled again as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "C'mon I promise you'll enjoy it if that's what you're worried about." Christine brought her lips right up next to his, and he felt himself losing ground. It felt like the couch was taken out from under him, and his stomach had found its way into his toes. He'd never felt like that before, and it was rather exhilarating if he was being honest with himself.

"How can you think it's even remotely close to me being worried that I won't enjoy it?" Christine looked down when she felt something press up against her butt, and she smiled as she sat down further. His own damned body was betraying him, and he didn't know whether to thank it or hate it. "God come on Christine I'm trying to be a decent human being here, and you're using my weakness against me. That's not fair."

"Am I sitting on your weakness?" She giggled when he threw his head back before rubbing his face.

"No. You're my weakness. You have no idea how long I've been wanting to sleep with you, but not like this if possible."

"Just out of curiosity, how long? I mean I know you've pretty consistently been checking out my ass since we've met so when did you decide you wanted to have sex with me?"

"About half a second after the first time I saw you. It started as me just wanting to sleep with you, but then we started hanging out and you made me feel something for a woman besides hate… I mean obviously I don't hate like all women but women in my personal life I've yet to find one I like. Anyway, you started to make me feel things, and now I want more than just sleeping with you as I've mentioned earlier."

"Well it might be awhile before I'm available, so just sleep with me already. I'm tired of talking, we've done too much of it." Christine decided to take her sweater off, partially because it was hot, but also because she hoped her in a tank top would maybe speed the process along. "Don't worry about Raoul, he's my concern not yours."

"I just don't want you to hate me if he finds out and ends it."

"I wouldn't blame you. It takes two to tango." She smiled as Erik finally moved his hands to her cheeks, and he rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs. He wasn't sure what came over him, but her cheeks were just so mesmerizing when she smiled.

"Your skin is so soft." He tried to hold back, but what he'd wanted literally climbed into his lap. He eyed her face and watched as she nibbled at her lip.

"If you think my cheeks are soft wait till you feel the rest of my body." Christine giggled, and Erik smiled before finally giving in and kissing her. Christine took a deep breath when her head started buzzing as their lips touched. She had no clue a kiss could be so intense, let alone a soft and slow one. She couldn't believe what she was feeling. She pulled back an inch or so, and a smile spread across her face as she ran her thumb across his lips.

"What? Was it bad? I thought it was pretty good." He swallowed in attempt to get the lump in his throat to go away. Christine kissed him again instead of supplying him with an answer, and she deepened the kiss, attempting to get to get as close to him as she could. Erik grabbed her butt before standing up with her, and she couldn't imagine kissing anyone and _not_ having it feel like that. She'd been missing out on so much, she was almost annoyed.

She wanted to never stop kissing him, but when she needed air she hesitantly pulled away as Erik opened his bedroom door. "It took you long enough. Sheesh." She smiled when he set her on his bed, and she rolled over and crawled into the center of the bed before laying down on her back.

"Sorry, I just like considering my options before sleeping with an engaged woman." Erik grabbed her sweats then pulled them down, and she blushed as he tossed the sweats over his shoulder. "Your legs are amazing." He ran his hands up to her hips from her ankles, and he grabbed at her panties as he started kissing her again. Christine was in heaven and she never wanted to leave.

. x .

With time, a bed and no worries about anyone hearing them, the sex was divine. Insane, right? She had a couple minutes here and there where she thought she couldn't take it anymore, but she took it like a big girl and just passed out afterwards.

So like the awkward human she was, when she woke up, she immediately felt like an idiot at first, but when Erik was next to her asleep as well, she felt some better. She had a brief consideration of looking at what was hiding under the mask, but then she smashed that thought with a hammer. She wasn't going to betray his trust like that. He looked so relaxed, like he didn't have a building sitting on his shoulders. She slowly got out of bed when her bladder had its demands, and once it was happy she decided to eat her pizza slice. She was officially hungry after all that work. She ran out and grabbed their pizza and wine, and once she was back in his room she took a bite of pizza. She looked over at Erik when he started to stir. She took a drink of wine as he sighed, then sat up while yawning. "Morning sleepy head."

"Is it really morning?"

"No. It's seven at night." Christine picked their glasses up, and walked over to Erik and gave him his. "I would've stayed in bed so you could wake up to my amazingly beautiful face, but I needed to pee and I'm hungry so I started on my pizza."

"Oh it's fine. Hopefully there will be more opportunities for me to wake up next to you sooner or later." He took his glass from her, and he took a drink then set it down on his nightstand.

"So I guess we should talk then."

"Yeah probably. Grab your pizza and we'll talk."

"Okay." Christine set her glass down, then went over to her plate of pizza. "So what do we do?" She sat down on the side she had been sleeping on, and Erik leaned back against the headboard.

"I don't know. I _really_ enjoyed myself, and I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as I did."

"You have no idea how much I enjoyed myself… I'd definitely like to do this again sometime soon if you want to. But like I said in your office, I have to get my shit together before I can leave Raoul."

"Okay… So how about we just fool around, and when you're finally able to leave him I'll be waiting." Erik set his hand on her leg, and she smiled as he started tapping her thigh.

"I like that plan."

"Yeah?" He smiled as she nodded her head, and she leaned over and kissed him. She was fairly interested in reliving the mind blowing time she had three hours ago. "I still can't believe this is real."

"Well it is, so get used to it." She moved the blanket down off of Erik, and they smiled as they kissed, and Christine moved onto his lap.


	10. Chapter 10

Christine went home that night, and Raoul was asleep, and Meg was playing on her phone on the couch. However, Meg was focused on Christine the second she walked through the door. "Where have you been?" Meg got up from the couch, and she turned the light on revealing the post-sex shinny skin.

"With a friend." Christine smiled despite not wanting to, and Meg pulled Christine over to the couch and sat her down.

"I need details _now._ " Meg was on cloud nine. Her little sister finally had sex! It took her long enough…

"Well uhm… It was with my boss."

"Fucking praise Jesus. Finally." Meg sat back, and she could tell there was more on Christine's mind. "What else?"

Christine was thankful Meg brought it up so she didn't have to. "I'm leaving Raoul soon. I just need to find a place and get the balls to do it, but it's happening."

"Seriously?" Christine nodded, and Meg was surprised, not by Christine leaving, but that she was _actually_ doing it. "You can stay with me. I need a roomie anyway. It'll be fun."

"You'd let me take the guest room?"

"Of course. Besides I want to officially meet your boss. Maybe I'll meet him when he comes over one day." They giggled, and when the bedroom door opened, Christine pulled Meg up off the couch.

"Welcome back Christine."

"Mhm goodnight." Christine and Meg hurried into the room, and Christine shut and locked the door before Raoul could do anything.

He almost fought it, but instead he grabbed a pillow and blanket from the storage closet, and laid down once he had the pillow on the couch. He was too tired to fight Christine's childish attempts.

. x .

After a couple weeks Christine finally felt well enough to return to work, and when she walked into the office it felt like everyone knew what she had done, and tried to do. So with a bit of second guessing she knocked on Erik's door, and once getting the okay, she opened it. Erik finished writing a sentence of his notes down before looking to see who it was, and when it was Christine he set his pen down and smiled. "Back to work?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to say hi. I know it's been a week or so since y'know."

"We had sex?" Christine nodded, and Erik was enjoying the shyness. "Well I still think it was a fun time, and my bed is pretty empty without you."

"Really?" Christine's self confidence took a nice boost from that. "I figured you changed your mind."

"No. Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. It's easy to think that when you're alone, and your fiancé can barely stand you."

"Well that's that idiot." Erik stood up and walked over to her, and he watched her body tighten up. "I personally enjoy your company very much… Why are you so shy all of the sudden?"

"I don't know. I just have never been with someone like this, and you're you and very intimidating."

"Why am I intimidating?" He pushed the bangs from out of her eyes, and she took a deep breath to keep herself together.

"I'm standing in an office building that you're paying for, to run a multi-million dollar company that you started. You're a genius compared to me and it's intimidating. I'm worried that I'm entertainment, not an actual possibility."

"Christine I'm not like that. If it meant nothing I would've told you that. I know we barely know each other past what we've decided to let out, and you'll learn I'm a lot of things, but a liar isn't one of them."

"That sounds like something a liar would say." Christine smiled as he bent over, and she hoped he'd finally kiss her, but when he stopped millimeters from her lips she nearly whimpered.

"I respect you too much to lie to you." She started nibbling on her lip, and when he didn't kiss her still she stepped back so she could breathe again.

"I should get to work." Christine went to leave his office, but when Erik took her hand and pulled her against him she was really getting mixed signals.

" _Or_ I can cancel this meeting I have that isn't important, and we go get some takeout, go back to my place and see what happens. I don't want to wait till after work."

"What about my work?"

"There's nothing on your log right now. I didn't expect you to come in today so nothing was assigned."

"Well that's perfectly convenient… I'd have to ask my boss if it's okay for me to leave work early, but I think he'll say yes."

"Yeah I think he will too." Erik let her go and moved over to his desk so he could grab his car keys. "Take my house key and I'll meet you there with food."

"Yeah… You're letting me into your place alone?"

"Yeah why wouldn't I? I don't expect you to have any plans to rob me so…" he held the key out for her to take, and when she finally did he smiled knowing what was to come.

. x .

Christine was given a tour of his house once they'd eaten, and she felt like he was deliberately pushing them having sex back further and further. She enjoyed the artwork, but she just wanted to tackle him already. Admittedly she got herself stuck in the paintings tour, but she was also ready to get herself out of it. "Hey Erik, can you show me your favorite bedroom of the place? I'm really curious as to how you decorate that room. Like the comforter and things like that."

"Oh I'm sorry did you want to have sex? I thought you just wanted to look at art." Christine couldn't help but glare as he smiled and moved towards the west side of the condo. "Well that would be here." Erik opened the bedroom door, and she hurried into the familiar room. Erik of course slapped her butt as she past by since it would've been rude not to. "Now the bed I decorate with the usual stuff," Erik picked her up as he walked over to the bed, and Christine was getting antsy. "however I do like to add the occasional beautiful woman into the mix. And when I say occasional I mean you and only you." Erik tossed her onto the bed and crawled over her, and Christine already felt better when he kissed her. He waited over an hour to do it and she was going to get him back for that, but she didn't have the time at that moment.

. x .

Day after day went by and besides Erik and Meg, the people she cared about continued to avoid her. Raoul was just being a prick running away from his problems and it was getting annoying.

But when it came time to head down to Georgia for Raoul's parents anniversary, Christine loathed Raoul for making her go. She wasn't a fan of flying, so when they landed she was relieved to say the least. Raoul still wasn't talking to her much, she figured because she kicked him out of her hospital room, but it was actually because he knew her boss was right and he was embarrassed and ashamed by how he acted that night. He still didn't know how to apologize, so logically he did the thing that drove her to attempt to commit suicide in the first place.

She was thankful when there was no family waiting for them with stupid signs allowing them to regroup from the flight. "I'm glad we're doing this. Getting away from New York. It's so easy to get caught up there and never stop going, but here we have air to breathe and room to step back and enjoy life." Christine managed a smile as he put his arm around her, but all she could think about was Erik and what he was doing. The combination of them sleeping together and him letting her cry in his lap made her keep thinking about him an unhealthy amount. The two times Raoul touched her after finding her was when he had to, making her feel even worse about herself that her own boyfriend couldn't touch her, but Erik... He comforted her and tried making her feel worth something. Then he got her a therapist which made her substantially better...

. x .

Later that night she was standing in the bathroom trying to get her makeup to make her look not so tired when Raoul walked in. "Hey, are you almost ready?"

"I don't think I'm going to go." Christine set her eyeshadow and brush down as Raoul stared at her.

"What? Why?"

"Because I look like hell and I don't think I can handle your family tonight." She walked past Raoul and returned back to their room a few rooms away from the bathroom.

"What's with this my family stuff? They're yours too." He took her hand in attempt to slow her down, but she ignored his attempt and continued on. "Have I done something?"

"No. If you've noticed I'm kind of working through some stuff. Shockingly not everything is about you." She walked over to the bed and sat down, and Raoul tried to think of what he may of done to get the snapping Christine.

"I'm sorry if I did something." He really didn't know what else to say or do to make her not be mad at him.

She sighed and dropped her head into her hands while being careful of her makeup since she was probably going to end up going to the dinner. "Why didn't you touch me when you found me those two times? Why did you look at me like I was some freak?"

"I don't know." Realizing it was probably an important conversation, Raoul sat down next to Christine. "I guess I was scared. I didn't want to hurt you, and I figured moving you would hurt you."

"That's it?" She didn't believe a single word he had said, but she wanted him to admit it. "No other reason?"

"No." Christine pursed her lips and tried to not yell at him for lying to her.

"Not like... Grossed out by me or something?" He had said it in the hospital one day, she had woken up and he apparently didn't realize it. "If you're going to lie to me make sure I don't already know the truth."

Raoul quickly tried to think of something that would get him out of that one. "I said I didn't want you to think I was grossed out by you because of me not touching you." When she laughed it was obvious it didn't help.

"You said like ten words while I was awake and I didn't get that. I got yeah no I couldn't touch her, she kinda grosses me out right now. So you can touch me when you're trying to get in my pants, but not when I'm dying and just need someone to tell me that everything is going to be okay, and that they love me." She stood up off the bed and walked over to the dresser. "You keep doing these things that I end up asking myself... Why the fuck are we together?"

"Because we love each other and despite my being an asshole we make each other happy. I'm sorry I said that, death just makes me uncomfortable. I don't know how to help someone with depression because it makes me uncomfortable and I freeze up and worry that I'm making it all about me or that I'm not helping or I trigger something and they try to kill themselves. I didn't mean gross out in the instance of like you're covered in shit and it's grossing me out, I meant to say uncomfortable, but I was stunned. My girlfriend tried killing herself and I found her half dead in our apartment. Give me some credit for being able to talk at all."

"No, I make _you_ happy. Don't assume my happiness, and it being caused by you. And the little words you were able to speak were talking shit about me. How do you think that makes me feel?" Christine was getting closer and closer to just leaving him regardless of whether she had her shit together or not. It was ridiculous! All he did was lie and make her feel bad about herself, where's the benefits for her? Raoul's phone started to buzz, and he stood after checking the phone.

"We'll continue this later. Are you coming?" She didn't want to, but she'd never heard the end of it if she didn't, so she grabbed her purse and left the room. Wherever Raoul was she didn't know or care.

. x .

All throughout the dinner she sat there and contemplated why she should stay with Raoul, and the only reason she came up with was that she loved him, and they had four years under their belt together and they hadn't all been so shitty. She wasn't sure why it mattered anymore, she was done with the relationship. She pulled her phone out and went onto the N Network's website to catch up on her gossip, and her heart dropped after seeing an article, and pictures to follow up the claims. It was a picture of Erik and some hot chick leaving a restaurant with their arms linked together, and she immediately felt nauseous so she quickly put her phone away with some doubt in the back of her mind over leaving Raoul. "Christine, how's the wedding planning going? Well I hope, since it's coming up." Christine looked at Raoul's father, and thinking of the wedding made her want to vomit even more.

"They're going great. Everything is pretty much done..." Her mind wandered back to the picture of Erik while she stabbed her shrimp with her fork.

"Oh that's good. Any news you want to share with us?" She stopped and set down her fork while trying to figure out what the man wanted.

"Is there a right answer or are you just asking questions?"

"Have you found a job?" She tried not to lock her jaw as she nodded.

"Yes. I have a job, and yet somehow your son manages to work nearly twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Is there any other failures of mine you'd like to ask about or can we focus on your twos anniversary? I guess I'll make it easier for you, yes I still turn every light in the house on, yes I check behind doors still and no I do not like being home alone... Man what else..."

"Christine-" Raoul knew he had pissed her off but no one else was in the wrong.

"Oh yeah, I still won't have sex with Raoul and I tried killing myself again. Am I missing any more of my failures and shortcomings? I don't think so." She stood and grabbed her purse, and as Raoul got up to follow her she hurried out of the restaurant.

"Christine would you stop?!" She ignored Raoul as she tried to keep herself together, but she just wanted to go home. She didn't feel good, and being in another state not in her own bed made it even worse. Raoul finally caught up to her and he took her arm to stop her, and she couldn't even look him in the eye.

"Just let me go back to the room!"

"Christine, what is wrong? Talk to me so I can help you."

"I'm not happy! I want to be at home where I'm comfortable, not here in Georgia where your family nit picks me apart now that I'm an adult and they can! I miss Dolphin and my bed and my routine. I _need_ my routine." She took a shaky breath before finally the tears started pouring out of her, and she turned after yanking her arm out of his grip so she could go somewhere. Anywhere really besides there at that restaurant with his family. She always felt like an outsider with them, and they were always critical of her degree decision. She couldn't even imagine the shit she'd get had she gotten a degree in something to do with fashion... Or anything that made her happy. When they realized she wasn't going to be the fourth daughter they never had they became disinterested in her, which was complete bullshit. If they didn't want to care for her until she was eighteen they shouldn't have volunteered. They should've given her a chance to find a place and people she could call her home and family, but no, they kept her around. Why they did she didn't understand nor could she figure out.

. x .

Christine ended up walking back to the room, packing her things up and taking a cab to the airport. For a hearty new ticket fee she got on the next plane for New York. She probably wasn't going to hear the end of it from Raoul when he got home, but she didn't care. She needed to take care of herself, not make him and his family happy. When Christine left, she needed to get out so fast she didn't even take the time to change, so she looked and felt like an idiot walking through the airport in heels, makeup and a dress that you would wear to a formal dinner. Once she was in New York and off the plane she turned her phone on and... well needless to say Raoul was _pissed_. She tried not to care but she had to live with the jackass still so she was mildly concerned.

Meg volunteered to pick Christine up and let her stay with her until Raoul got back, and on her way to where Meg had parked, she bumped into someone while scrolling through the texts Raoul sent her trying to figure out just how mad he was. She looked up to apologize, but when it was Erik she remembered that picture and hurried away before he could say anything... Correction: _if_ he said anything.

Ignoring Nadir's call, Erik watched her walk away, and he was trying to figure out why she was in a formal gown and heels. Surely it wasn't some weird flying thing she did... He continued watching and she stopped four or five cars down before letting her bag go and hugging a brunette who was waiting in her pajamas for Christine. He noticed that Christine was crying, and then he wanted to punch whoever made her cry. She had a hard enough month, she didn't need an asshole making her cry... If it was the Lawyer he was going to punch him. "Erik? Why are you ignoring me?"

He continued to ignore the pestering man and watched the two socialize, and with Christine ignoring him he was desperate to find out why. "No reason."

"Is that the hot chick?"

"Her name is Christine... And stop talking about her like that."

"Oh sorry... Why are you staring at her? Why is she in a formal dress at the airport? By the way how is your sister?"

"I don't know. We aren't talking apparently... Let's go, and Maddie is good." Erik went around to the driver's side and got in. He was ready for a drink and to get some sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Christine took a day to regain herself, and she would've called Monica, but she didn't want to talk, so she found comfort in ice cream and celebrity drama while Meg worked.

Christine went to work the next day, which was also the day Raoul came home meaning she had no motivation to go home. So she worked late... Later than she meant to honestly. Three am rolled around, and she had dozed off when she rest her head to help with the headache. She woke up ready to punch someone, but relaxed when it was just Boss Man. "Christine what are you doing here? It's three am."

"I could ask you same thing, Mister Dessin." She sat back in her chair and tried not to show the fear that she felt when the chair went further back than usual.

"Why are you mad at me? If anything I should be mad at you for ignoring me at the airport the other night." He saw the opportunity to ask out that night. "Why did you? And what was with the dress? Also Monica called me and she said you didn't show up for your session yesterday, but I know you were in New York."

"I had a breakdown in Georgia after Raoul's dad tore me down. I flew home after packing my bags, and I just so happened to be in a formal dress. Plus seeing you out with some hot chick the day after I leave wasn't the best feeling in the world, but hey I'll get over it. I was only entertainment, I know that know."

"I'm sorry his dad did that to you, and the only woman I was out with yesterday was my sister Maddie."

"You have a sister? You never told me you had one…" Christine felt dumb.

"It never came up. She's over in Europe ten months out of the year, and she just got here two days ago… And she's staying at my place this time." Erik wasn't thrilled about that fact, and neither was Christine. "Thankfully she's out most of the day, but even then it's iffy. Plus she brings friends over so she could walk in with ten women while we're in my room."

"Well that's just a risk I'm willing to take." Christine started to rub her neck when it was nice and tight from her horrible sleeping position. "What are you doing here?"

"I forgot my phone, and when everything was unlocked and the lights were on I double checked everything and found you… Thankfully you're the only one here."

"Am I?" Christine looked around the office, and she smiled when she realized Erik's intentions. "Well I've always been interested in makeup conference table sex if you're up for it."

"So I can think about you every time I'm in there trying to focus? Count me in." Christine laughed as she got up from her desk, and she took Erik's hand as they walked across the office. "So in a few weeks I'm starting to remodel this place."

"Yeah?"

"Less carpet, more hardwood. New equipment, new desks, bathrooms and break room. With the hours we pull I might put a full kitchen in. I don't know yet."

"Oh really? That sounds nice… The place does kind of smell. I didn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you, but since you know then I'm free to speak my mind."

"It smells horrible in here. I completely agree. Spoiled coffee, mildew from snow on people's shoes and things like that really build up over the years." Erik opened the door and Christine walked in and sat down on the table.

"So I'm thinking in the middle where nearly everyone touches at least once or twice." She unzipped her dress and tossed it on the floor after taking it off, leaving her in her bra and panties. "What do you think?" She spread her legs as Erik kicked his shoes off and nearly tore the rest of his clothes off. Erik hurried up to her, and she jumped back away from him to tease him. "What are you waiting for? Come and get me." She giggled as he got onto the desk, and Christine stopped moving once they were where she wanted to be. Erik kissed her as his hands moved down the length of her legs.

. x .

Christine finally went home, and she locked the door behind her... Which apparently woke Raoul up. "Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting for a text or a call or a morse code thing since eight."

"Sorry." She wasn't sure why she was apologizing when he never did and he did it every night. She could've gotten mad, but Erik was on her mind so she was calm.

"Are you though? You've been on a shitty streak the past few days."

"Oh wow few days? I'm so sorry I'll work on it. Can't have me acting out for a day or two, can we? You act out enough for the both of us." Christine piled her things onto the counter before turning and looking at Raoul. "I told you I didn't want to go to dinner. Don't blame me for your shit listening skills. Your parents hate me because I ended up not being like you guys. They obviously weren't going to make me feel better."

"They don't hate you, Christine. My dad wasn't even hinting towards you being a failure or whatever you thought he was. He just wanted to know if you had found a job."

"No he wanted to know if my lazy ass had found a job yet." She kicked her shoes off and she nearly left the house again so she didn't have to deal with Raoul.

"You're not correct but-"

"Why did your parents take me in?" That question was starting to bug her. "I was your friend in school and that's it. Logically why did they take me in? There had to be something making it worthwhile."

"Because I asked them to."

"No that's what got them considering it, but what actually pushed them to do it? They look at everything from a business standpoint, why was taking me in and sending me to college a good investment?" Raoul stopped himself from dismissing her question since she had a point.

"I don't know. I'll have to ask them." Then he remembered he was mad at her for leaving Georgia. "But what the hell were you thinking leaving like that?! You can't do whatever you want and expect no repercussions because you're you! It was my parents anniversary and we were going to spend the day together the next day but no! You got up and left like the only person who matters in the world is you!"

"I told you going in I didn't want to be there, I told you going to the dinner I didn't want to be there and I told you during the dinner I didn't want to be there! Of course I'm going to leave after your dad was a jackass!"

"He wasn't being a jackass holy shit." Raoul rubbed his face and tried not to scream at Christine's inability to think about things a different way.

"I thought he was! I felt that he was being condescending and making fun of my career choices, which people you know have been known to do! You surround me with these assholes and then you ignore how they treat me! I can't win when I'm with you, Raoul. I can't. Either I have a bad career or I have silly things I do because of my parents. Your friends and family make fun of who I am and what I do, and you let them. Then I slowly feel worse and worse about myself until I get to the point where I feel like killing myself is an option, and a good one at that. Then you treat me like some disgusting person you can't even look at let alone sleep in the same bed with... Until you think I'm willing to sleep with you then you're all for it."

"I can't control everyone, Christine! It's not my fault people do that. My family? I can't stop them! I also can't stop my friends! You're asking me to do all this stuff that I can't do!"

"Then why are we together?!" She took a deep breath to stop her hands from shaking, and Raoul tried not to get hurt by her question. "I need to be with someone who is willing to dump an asshole friend. I need someone who is willing to stand up to his family for me. You can't do any of those... I deserve better than what you've been giving me lately. So either be a good partner or stop wasting my time." She crossed her arms and waited for Raoul's decision, and when he slowly started to nod she was mildly confused.

"Okay. You're right... I'll dump Miles, and I'll call my parents and tell them to back off. Just tell me what I need to do to keep you around. I love you too much to lose you." He put his arms around her waist and she laid her head on his chest... She was too tired for fighting.

"I will in the morning. I'm too tired tonight."

"Bed?" Raoul looked at the beautiful woman he was lucky enough to be able to call his and to hold. When she nodded he picked her up and kissed her forehead while walking into their room.

. x .

Raoul and Christine slept in, so the next morning Christine spent the morning talking to Raoul and they worked out a compromise on what would make them both happy, but something that was also realistic. They both once again agreed on three nights he could stay and work, the other four he'd be home on time. Then the next time he spoke to his parents he'd explain that Christine felt they were judging her and her life choices, and they either needed to stop or talk to her and clear things up. Then before they left for work, Raoul texted Miles telling him they were over due to how badly he treated Christine, and Raoul was done with it. On her way to work, Christine stopped by her favorite coffee joint and picked her and Erik up a peppermint coffee. Thankfully it stayed warm the entire walk to work, and it even kept her hands warm.

She opened his door with her butt since Jackie wasn't at her desk, and she smiled when he was typing away on his computer. "Please knock next-" seeing that it was Christine Erik ended that sentence. "Hey I'm surprised to see you here so early." Erik got up and met her halfway, and he accepted the coffee from her.

"It's delicious, don't ask what it is, and yes I'm awake. I'm a young person I bounce back quickly."

"Apparently so." Erik sipped at the coffee and was pleased when he got a hint of peppermint, and he was trying to ignore Christine's fight eyes. "You're walking straight, I must not have done well enough."

"No I'm really sore, I'm just good at hiding it." She took a drink of hers and Erik seemed happy.

"I'm sorry you're in pain." He set his cup down before hugging her from the side. "Want me to massage it for you?" They smiled, and Christine laughed since she had a feeling that wasn't going to work.

"Thank you for the offer, and despite how tempting it is, I have to work today."

"It's only ten minutes." He nestled his face against the side of her head, and it was so hard to say no since it was her boss encouraging her not to work.

"I have to pay bills."

"I'm distracting you, don't worry about your pay."

"Well now I feel like a prostitute." Christine knew what he meant, she just wanted to give him a hard time.

"You know what I mean." He kissed her neck, and she shut her eyes as he trailed his kisses around to the small of her throat where he licked and bit, but moved away and looked like he just ate a bug. Realizing he was tasting her perfume, Christine immediately busted out laughing. "It tastes so bad!" He grabbed his coffee and sipped at it to try and help the taste go away.

"That's not funny but it's hilarious."

"Ha yeah hilarious."

"That's what you get for distracting me from my work." Christine waited for Erik to finish rinsing his mouth out before approaching him. "Horrible influence."

"You're at work, you're being paid. Now let me distract you since you can't come over after work." He moved her closer before starting to roll her dress up above her butt. "Now let me give you a little massage," Erik kissed her and she wrapped her arms around his neck. "and then we'll ruin any helpfulness the massage is."

"Only if we can go out to lunch. I know this really good Chinese food place that I've been craving for a while now. My treat."

"Deal." He picked her up making her giggle, and he carried her over to the back of his desk. He kicked his chair out of the way and set her down on the edge of the desk. She watched as he pulled her panties to the side, and she smiled and watched as he moved down onto his knees. Christine moved closer to the edge before wrapping her legs around his neck, and when she felt his tongue run down her thigh she tried not to get impatient.

"So when did you become a certified masseuse?"

"Don't worry about that." She giggled making him smile, and she stopped when he nipped at her thigh. He was going to be the death of her.

. x .

Erik ended up teasing Christine to no end, but he made up for it with his tongue abilities… She really didn't know what to call it, she just knew it felt fantastic. She held his head where it was to keep it there, and she kicked her heels off so she had better toe mobility. He nipped at her making her moan, and as she pulled at his hair she put her head back. "Hey- oh Jesus Christ." Christine squeaked and jumped off the desk then worked on pulling her dress down. Erik stood up, and was ready to kill Nadir.

"How the hell did you get in here? I still have your key."

"The… Door was open. I can come back later. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"I thought you locked the door." Erik looked over at Christine and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I wasn't planning on doing anything so I didn't think to. I need to get to work anyway." Christine grabbed her coffee and hoped her focus on work would douse the fire that was currently residing in her person. She was almost to the door when she remembered her shoes, so she hurried over and slipped them on, "don't forget lunch." then left the office. She hoped her legs would stay stable enough to make it to her office without falling. When she got to her desk she sighed as she plopped down into her chair, and the first thing to happen was her shoes coming off. She hated wearing them more than necessary.

"We could've finished. He was leaving." Christine looked up from her computer, and out of the two of them Erik was pouting.

"It's weird. I don't like people knowing what we're doing at work."

"Screw them. I put a lot of time and effort into you getting some fun and he ruined it, and I'm not going to end this day with you almost getting off." He sat down across from her, and she was touched by his dedication on the matter.

"It's okay, Erik, I'll live. I've gone six months without an orgasm, I can go twelve hours."

"But-"

"Seriously. I appreciate how much you care about this, but I'm okay. I'm a big girl. Now I'll be ready for lunch at one, and if you don't give me any work so I'll cave and let you finish I'll withhold sex for a week or so."

"Oh no we'll have to spend time with each other and get to know one another better. How will I ever live?"

"Really?" Erik nodded and Christine realized how opposite he and Raoul were. "I figured you'd prefer to just learn as we go like Raoul does."

"Raoul is a giant child, of course he'd prefer that. I personally want to date you. Get to know you and spend time with you. Take you out dancing and to see plays-"

"I hate plays, love musicals." Erik seemed to be in pain momentarily which Christine took as he hated musicals.

"To see musicals on the rare occasion, take you to countries you've only ever dreamed of seeing. I want something that it seems you and I never got with our first tries."

"I have no clue how you're single."

"Because I'm holding out for you." She felt herself blush, and Erik saw it which always made him happy. He loved making her blush, it meant he was doing something right. "I really think we have some strong potential, I just need you to give us the chance we need. We won't get anywhere hiding behind closed doors constantly."

"I know, I'm just… I'm letting a lot go by leaving Raoul, and I'm bad with change so this is hard for me. Let's just keep this going, please? I promise I'll end it with him I just need time. Besides, I have to put some money away so I can get a car and help pay my friends rent once I move in with her."

"Okay. You make the call and I'll be waiting… Can we get the Chinese food to go and go back to my place? I really want to do last night again."

"Last night was pretty hot…" Christine contemplated her options, and when to-go and his place didn't seem like a bad idea she was down. "Okay. Yeah let's do that." Erik grinned and stood up, and when he turned, then turned back around she was mildly concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah no I'm fine… I'm just antsy. Uh… Oh yeah um I have a rush six item order in for two thousand, do you want it? I figured since your log is clear you'd be the best to ask."

"When's it due?"

"Two days."

"What do they want them for?"

"Wide, tall and small banners, window hangings and ads."

"Yeah why not." Christine knew she was the only one who could safely accept it, and she didn't want to make Erik turn a client down. "I'll need my schedule clear for the next two days though so no more work until I'm done with that."

"Got it." He finally decided to address the fight eyes. "So who won?"

"Hm?" Christine didn't keep up with sports, she had no clue why he was asking her.

"The fight." Christine stared at him as she tried to understand what the hell he meant. "With the Lawyer. You have a tiredness in your eyes that only comes from emotional exhaustion, which most of the time occurs after a fight."

"Oh… I don't know. No one really. It was the same fight as last time. Same fight, same results. I've given up on getting through to him."

"I'm sorry."

"No you're not. You're excited." She couldn't blame him, if the roles were reversed she'd be throwing a party when he announced he was throwing in the towel with Maley. "Which is fine. I kinda am too, but it's bittersweet for me."

"Okay you have a point, but I'd be excited even if I wasn't waiting for you to be single. Raoul treats you like shit, Christine. He doesn't deserve you. You need someone who's willing to be there mentally and physically when you need it. You need someone who won't make fun of you for any quirks you may have because of the traumatizing event of losing your parents. You deserve the best, and while I might not be the best either, Raoul is no where near it."

"If you're not the best I don't think I could handle the actual best. In anyway shape or form."

"Good, because they don't get you." Christine giggled, and Erik left her office leaving her to get ready for the day.

. x .

"Thanks for letting me finish." Christine cuddled up against Erik as he tried staying awake.

"You make it sound like it's a rarity."

"You know what I mean." She bit at his shoulder while her hands rubbed his stomach, her nails being used lightly.

"So six months? That's a lot of months to go without an orgasm. Why'd you do it?"

"I was busy and tired. Plus a little depressed. Antidepressants can make having an orgasm difficult."

"Oh yeah I heard that somewhere. So it's true?" Christine nodded, and as she moved up and kissed him the door opened. They were having the absolute worst luck. "Okay that one's on me… Yes Maddie?" Erik helped Christine get under the covers the rest of the way so nothing was seen.

"Do you have any mint?"

"No you'll have to go and get some."

"Okay. So who's this?" Maddie remained in the doorway as Christine moved further under the blankets so she wasn't seen.

"This is my friend and for now that's all you need to know."

"So she's married like you then?"

"No and even if she was that's none of your business. Now please lock the door and leave the room."

"Okay have fun you two." Christine waited to move towards Erik until she heard the door close, and when she grabbed him he jumped he didn't voice any objections which was all she needed.


	12. Chapter 12

January rolled around, Christmas and New Years turned out to be rather uneventful and unmemorable since she and Raoul didn't have money to do anything with the wedding coming up, and it was snowing on her way to work which didn't make Christine all that happy. She liked cold, but snow, heels and a short dress did not make for a fun walk, but she was not going to try and drive in snow in Manhattan. She at that moment in time was not suicidal. By the time she got to work and was in her office, her legs were nearly frozen. She dug out the little throw she had brought to work for when her legs got cold, and wrapped her legs up before kicking her heels off and getting to work. She had a log of ten request, two of them were due that day and the rest were dispersed through the rest of the week. If everything worked out correctly she'd only be kinda fucked. With her tea and pencil ready, she started her day in hopes of being successful.

. x .

Christine ended up doing the one thing she tried to avoid... Bringing her work home. "Christine, are you going to come to bed?" She glanced at the clock and three of her nearly finished rough drafts then sighed. She rubbed her face after setting her pencil down, and she jumped when she felt Raoul's hands on her shoulders. "It's one in the morning. You've gotten a good start on them so you'll be fine." He kissed her head and she complied and set her pencil down.

"You're right." She stood up and stretched to get some of the kinks out of her back, then turned the lights out and followed Raoul into the bedroom for the evening. "He said the first few months of the year are always so busy. He thinks it's because people want to reimagine their look, others buy one in dreams of starting a business but never do. Stupid things like that."

"I would think the New Year's sales would be what's drowning you guys. Everyone has them and it's ridiculous."

"Surprisingly no. I only did two sales this month. I hope I get more next New Year's Eve, they're fun." They crawled into bed and Christine yawned as she found her pillow to cuddle with, but then decided to ditch the pillow and cuddle up against Raoul until they fell asleep... She always ended up cuddling her pillow though. She could be laying upside down on her back, and she'd wake up to hugging her pillow. "I love you."

"Love you too, baby." He kissed Christine's forehead and she tried to find the spark, but it was just comfortable. Nothing else, which was unfortunate, but they had been together four years and had yet to have sex so it was inevitable.

. x .

Christine was gathering up her work from the kitchen table when Raoul grabbed her and and twirled her around, and pulled her close so he could kiss her. Christine giggled at his playfulness, and once they ended the kiss she wiped her lipstick off of him. "Thank you. Dark red really isn't my shade." She smiled and he continued to hold her up against his body. Usually Christine did get a little flustered being that close, but that morning... Nothing. "Okay, Beautiful. Larry is staying late tonight so I'm going to hang around and work with him since he's my partner in this case. I'll hopefully be home around eleven or twelve, maybe a bit later if we get something going, but if we do I'll try and text you. Okay?"

"Yeah that's fine. I'll see you tonight or in the morning if I fall asleep. Have a good day, stay safe and I love you." A few weeks ago there had been a shooting in another law firm, apparently it was someone who got out of jail and was pissed at the lawyer who put him in there. Four died and twenty were injured. She was now obsessed with the idea of it happening to Raoul's law firm and she almost wanted him to change jobs.

"Love you too, you stay safe too and you also have a good day." He kissed her one last time before heading over to the door, and once he was gone Christine focused on gathering her papers up again.

. x .

At the end of the day, with three final products in hand she headed towards Erik's office. They'd been so busy the past month and a half they barely had time to talk about work let alone other things. She missed him which was a feeling she hadn't felt in years. She truly missed him, not something he gave her, just his presence. With Raoul she usually just missed the fact that he made it so she wasn't home alone. She opened the door and locked it behind her, and she waited for Erik to get off the phone before approaching his desk. She waited for his after conversation sigh to walk up, and as she did Erik held his hand out. "What do you have?"

"Three. One that was due today and the two for tomorrow." She handed them to him, and he thumbed through the pages before looking at his computer. "Busy?"

"Unbelievably. Are you open to suggestions?"

"Of course." Erik held up the boutique logo and finished looking at his computer before speaking.

"I'd change the coloring. Personally to me they look like the tacky dark primary colors. You know what I'm talking about, right?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure about the colors on that one so thank you for helping me decide." She walked around to his side of the desk and sat down in his lap. "Hey." She smiled and put her head on his chest, and he smiled but it looked pained. "Is everything okay?"

"Yep it's just that time of year where I drive myself insane working." He laid his cheek down on her head, and he let himself rub her back. He needed to do so many things, but a minute break wasn't going to kill him.

"Just take a deep breath and try and keep yourself relaxed. I hate seeing you this stressed." She ran her hands up his chest, and she smiled when he kissed the top of her head.

"I'm trying. Never seeing you doesn't help me at all."

"I know, and I'm sorry. But as you know it's just been so busy and I go home exhausted every day, but… Raoul is working late tonight so maybe you can come over, I'll make a nice dinner for us and we can make up for some lost time?"

"As tempting as your place sounds, wouldn't mine be safer?"

"Good point. So your place? I'll come over after I stop by my place. I have to feed Dolphin and take a shower."

"Why don't we skip making dinner, we take a nice long shower together and order pizza?"

"I still have to feed Dolphin though."

"A five minute stop is a lot better than an hour stop." Erik pulled at the neckline of her dress so he could get a better view, and Christine smiled. "Oh I already feel better. Who knew my Christmas season stress would be cured by breasts…"

"It's not out of the realm of possible." Erik kept looking until his phone started ringing, and his pained look returned. "I'll see you tonight." She moved up and gave him a quick kiss, but Erik held her there and deepened it so he could survive the rest of the day.

"Go change the colors." He slapped her butt and she moved off his lap as he answered the phone, and she fixed her lipstick before leaving his office.

. x .

She wanted to make the special, so, she stopped and grabbed something nice to wear once she got there, and also something nice to wear on her way there. The shower plan was canceled since Erik had to stay a little late and get things sent out as well as assign new things for tomorrow. That worked for Christine since it gave her the time to curl her hair and do her makeup. She walked over to the bed where she had her dress laid out, as well as her newly acquired undergarments. She had no clue if they'd do anything for him, but they were cute and it showed she put effort into it all so she didn't care. Plus she had always wanted to wear a corset and garters. It was always so cute to her.

She got the black leather corset on, which did wonders for her breasts, then she realized she probably should've gone from the bottom up, but she worked around it. She got the lace boyshort/thong combo on, something she didn't understand but thought it was cute so she was down, then sat down and worked on the stockings. They stopped mid thigh, and she connected the garters before catching her breath. She learned a lesson that night, and it was actually painful. She slipped the black strapless dress on and looked at herself in the mirror. She was loving the look, and she finished it off with black heels to give her some height. She grabbed her jacket and purse before heading towards the door, and with a deep self confidence gaining breath, she headed out.

The walk nearly killed her legs, but once she was in Erik's building it didn't matter anymore. The heat was on and she was so close she wasn't turning back. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous, but she did her best to ignore it. She got to his door and rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later the door opened, and she was pretty sure he choked and it was followed by the wine glass he was holding shattering on the floor. Christine smiled and looked down at the mess, then back up at Erik who was still looking at her. "I'm guessing I did a good job." She stepped over the red wine and glass, and was glad he had dark hardwood floors and not something light and easily stainable.

"This isn't even making sense anymore. How can he be ignoring you? I don't- it doesn't make sense." Erik grabbed her by her hips and pulled her flush to him, and he wanted to see what she was wearing under the dress since he could feel it. "I'm speechless. You're absolutely breathtaking." He leaned down and teased her by getting close to her lips, but let his hands wander for a little bit instead. He waited until she felt her fidget to kiss her, and she held onto his arms to keep her up. He ran his fingers through her hair, something his missed horribly during the past few weeks. "Please tell me you're not hungry yet." Erik set his hand on the back of Christine's neck, and she smiled as she pecked him on the lips.

"Famished." She made Erik whimper for the first time in weeks and she forgot how exhilarating it was to bring a grown man down to her feet. "Did you get the pizza?"

"I did." He tried to feel up under her dress, but she smacked his hand away. She wasn't going to let the surprise be ruined.

"Awesome. Let's eat." She walked into the kitchen and opened the pizza box up. Her stomach growled when she saw the delicious, greasy, cheesey pizza laying in the box. She picked a slice up and her mouth watered. "Get in my mouth you delicious pizza." She took a bite, and when Erik was standing next to the sink gripping the edge of the counter she smiled. She walked away from the pizza box, and Erik grabbed a slice since she was going to make him wait. They sat down at the bar, and Christine started rubbing his leg with her foot making Erik's eye twitch. "So, how's the last few weeks gone? We haven't done anything since Christmas Eve."

"I'm good, busy but good. I've been missing you though."

"I've missed you too. How's the divorce going?"

"Oh yeah, there's that too." Erik sighed and took another bite of his pizza. "As if I didn't have enough on my plate. Thankfully I think we're almost done negotiating."

"That'd be nice. Is she trying to milk you?"

"In the beginning she tried but after two weeks she stopped. Her lawyer is smart which is good for me, because she knows what's in the realm of possible, a skill Maley is severely lacking… Now onto useful talking. When's your birthday?"

"May fourth, nineteen eighty nine. Yours?"

"June sixteenth, nineteen eighty five. Where were you born?"

"Savannah, Georgia. You?"

"New York City." Erik tried feeling up her dress again, and she slapped his hand away once again. "What are your parents names?"

"Julia and Michael. What are yours?"

"I don't know my dad's and my mothers is Celia. Brothers and sisters?"

"None. You besides Maddie?"

"Nope. My mom only had the honor of fucking two kids lives up, but then again I probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for her so I guess I can't complain."

"What do you mean?" She wanted to know how he started wearing the mask, and she hoped that question would lead to an answer.

"That's a story for another time. Where did you go to college?"

"NYCU."

"First car?" Erik cherished everything she let him know about her.

"Two thousand three Pouse. Black leather interior, ten thousand miles… That was an amazing car."

"What happened to it?" Erik couldn't imagine losing a car like that.

"Well first I moved here, second, Raoul's parents made me sell it when I graduated high school. They said I wouldn't want it after college and they wouldn't let me store it at their home, so I had to sell it."

"They sound like assholes." Christine nodded, and before she knew it her makeup started to be ruined by her stupid tears caused by a rush of emotions. "Hey are you okay?" Erik set his hand on her shoulder and she nodded while wiping the tears away.

"Yeah. I just miss them, and I've never felt like I've had a place since losing them until I met you, and it's just an amazing feeling. So thank you for helping me feel this way again." Erik took her free hand and kissed her knuckles making her smile despite her throat being tight still. "Raoul's parents despite sending me to college really kind of ruined my dreams. I originally wanted to get into fashion, but they said I wasn't pretty enough so I went into art which they also didn't approve of but I was good... I am good. I'm amazing at what I do, I just don't like it that much."

"Then go back to school to do what you want to do."

"No. It's too late. By the time I'm done I'll be thirty something and not in my prime anymore, but it's fine."

"Well no matter how much I disagree with that, why do you have to be in your prime to design clothes?"

"Well I wanted to like… Design, model and all that. I don't know, it's dumb I know, I just have always liked having my pictures taken."

"Well if you think you're too late I can always help you out and take some pictures. I know how to use a camera."

He really hoped she'd take the offer since he wanted to start making some memories, and he definitely wanted to remember what was coming up. "With all that moving around I don't think photos are all that practical. It'd make more sense to videotape it." Erik dropped his pizza, and she was enjoying his reactions to her that day. "Or no? It's cool if you're not up for that."

"What? No of course I am- I just am surprised you are suggesting it." He was getting impatient, and knowing she wanted to film everything? Made it even worse.

"Well y'know." She got up and threw her crust away in the trash before washing her hands, and after drying them she went into his room. She took her dress off and tossed it into the corner nearest to her, and a few seconds later Erik walked in and he nearly passed out. He was absolutely in awe of her. She was so beautiful and he was so close to being hers he could taste it. Hell, even if she decided to stay with the Lawyer he was still hers. He was wrapped around her little finger and always would be. He was in his own personal hell, and had no complaints on being there. "So what do you think?"

"I think… I think that I should get the camera, because what I'm going to do to you will be so incredible that we'll need it on film for reference." She put her hands behind her back as Erik disappeared into his closet, and he came back out with a professional grade handheld camera.

"What did you need that for?"

"Maley asked for it for Christmas like four years ago and has used it maybe twice so it's mine now." He set it down on the nightstand and she blushed due to how intensely he was staring at her. It was the look she'd been dreaming of seeing for years, but didn't find it till she found Erik. The amazing thing was, she got the look even when she was fully dressed. Hell, he gave her the look when she was in sweats and a hoodie, and hasn't brushed her hair in three days.

"How do you look at me like you do?"

"Sorry, I can't help it. I'm serious, I don't understand how someone could ignore you, and continue to do so even after it becomes painfully obvious they're losing you. However, his loss is my gain, and I can't complain."

"You just rhymed." Christine laughed, and when Erik realized she was right he joined her, plus whenever she laughed it was hard not to laugh too.

"I did. You are correct, but it wasn't on purpose.

Now," he unzipped her corset a tiny bit to give him a better view of her breasts. "Are you busy tomorrow? Because I have plans that'll probably make you stay till this time tomorrow."

"I don't anymore." She watched him grab the camera, and she giggled when he turned it on and snapped a picture of her.

"You may not be able model for the entire world, or at least you think you can't, but maybe you could for me? I know it's not the same, but I'll always be an eager fan."

"Even when I start to sag?"

"Even when you start to sag. However I don't think you have to worry about that for at least six or seven years, and even then I'm probably very wrong."

"Well aren't you the charmer." He stepped back and snapped another picture, and she zipped the corset back up again. "It makes my boobs look better."

"Eh. They're covered, I can't comment." She rolled her eyes making him chuckle and snap a couple more pictures. He turned her around and took one, then just for the fun of it had her bend over and took one last one. "God I-" he stopped himself as he rubbed his hand over her panties, and she bit her lip since that's what got her on edge.

. x .

Christine laughed despite being horribly embarrassed, which Erik didn't understand because she looked amazing. "I look so stupid!"

"What? No you don't you look beautiful. I like the no panties but stockings look on you. It's sexy." Erik looked over at Christine from his tablet and her face was cherry red. "Hey at least you don't have nasty skin sacks hanging between your vagina and ass."

"Hey you have great balls." Christine tried pausing the video but Erik moved it out of her reach.

"Balls are disgusting you don't have to lie to me."

"Some balls are disgusting, but yours are nice."

"I don't know how you touch them let alone put them in your mouth. I'm impressed but also concerned about what other things you're willing to put in there."

"Hey they taste good if you shower." She hugged his arm and kissed his shoulder while trying to watch the video objectively. "You have a nice ass."

"Yours is better."

"Or we both have great asses. Double threat over here." Christine pinched the part of Erik's butt that she had access to while kissing him, and the longer the kiss went the more he considered setting his tablet down so he could do more important things. Christine was thrilled when she no longer heard her embarrassing noises, and Erik's hands found their way onto her body as he moved above her.


	13. Chapter 13

"You called Boss Man?" Christine locked his office door since she figured it was a sex call, but when he didn't get up she panicked since that meant it wasn't a sex call which meant something was up. "Up for a weekend trip to D.C.? It's my first party since declaring myself single and I'm nervous… Plus it's a weekend in D.C. giving us forty eight hours of uninterrupted…" He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Togetherness."

"Well when you put it that way… I'm down. What's the party?" She walked up to his desk and set her hands down on it before leaning over.

"Some business partners birthday." Erik glanced down since she was wearing a low cut shirt, and she smiled to herself when she noticed the glance.

"Sounds fun. So, yesterday was amazing." She moved around to his chair, and she sat down in his lap after pushing him back. "And it does in fact hurt to walk correctly today."

"Well that means you enjoyed yourself."

"On many occasions." She nearly purred as she pressed her chest against his and kissed at his chin. "I should get back to work. I can't do anything with this discomfort."

"Oh I'm sorry." He kissed her forehead as she stood up, and he smiled when she flashed him before leaving the room.

. x .

Christine and Meg met up to catch up and get drunk, and Christine was thankful when they met up at a bar. She needed unlimited booze. "So, what's going on with you and your boss?" And by catch up, Meg meant details on Christine's newly started sex life.

"Uh… We're sleeping together. I'm pretty close to ending it with Raoul. Maybe only a few more weeks before I claim your guest bedroom. Erik's just… I don't know. I'm happy with him." Christine picked up her glass of wine, and Meg couldn't help but smile. She wasn't a fan of Raoul, so she was team Erik. "He makes me feel like I used to with Raoul, except even worse. And he's so great in bed. I don't have any comparables, but after finding out I'd never had a guy go down on me… he… six times. He practically worships my clit, and during the sex I had two more. It's exhausting, but amazing."

"Eight times? God damn I'd be napping by the fifth."

"Right? I was so tired. I passed out in his bed. Then I woke up and we proceeded to have sex again… and again… and again. Then I went home. After that we didn't do much until last week when I called you to cover for me. The holidays were just super busy for both of us."

"Well apparently you two spent plenty of time catching up for lost time."

"Just the entire night." Christine smiled as she took a long drink of her wine, and Meg was enjoying sexually active Christine.

"I bet you felt that the next day."

"I told Raoul I was ovulating so I could lay in bed all day." Meg giggled and called the bartender over for more wine.

With their glasses refilled, Meg raised hers for a toast. "To your new found sexuality." They clinked glasses, and Christine put the glass down so she could move onto the harder stuff before she was too hazy to drink rationally.

"Tequila please! Like a glass with four shots. Please and thank you."

"Make that two." Christine smiled knowing Meg was joining in on the drinking.

. x .

Christine had herself dropped off at Erik's place, and it took a little bit of time, she got up to Erik's door where she started banging on his door. She smiled and stumbled inside once the door opened, and Erik stepped back as she caught herself. "Christine? What are you doing here?"

"I am here because I want to be in-" she burped and she quickly covered her mouth. "Oh shit that was gross. I'm so sorry excuse me." She walked over to the couch and fell over onto it, and she tried striking a sexy pose but ended up just hurting her back. "I wanna be with you naked." Erik tried not to laugh as she bit her lip and started rubbing her butt.

"You are super drunk right now, aren't you?"

"Yeah. Now will you take my pants off?" Erik was really into the sex idea but not her being drunk aspect.

"Uh… No give me a minute. How many drinks did you have?" Erik went into the kitchen and busted out his tequila so he could get close to her level.

"Let's see I had… Three wines, six shots and a beer." Erik almost considered not even drinking, and just tucking her into bed. Even he didn't need that much to drink.

"Okay." He turned to make sure she didn't hurt herself, and he started in on the shots. Christine stood up and started to take her pants off, which she of course struggled with. "Fucking hell." He really didn't want to drink that much.

"I'm gonna get them off don't worry!"

"I believe in you. Just keep working on it." The kicker was, he was over a foot taller and a lot heavier than her meaning he had to equate for that as well. She flinged her heels off, and when one landed on Maley's favorite vase breaking it, Erik laughed. "You're doing great." She tripped and landed on the floor, but her continuous giggling made him to believe she was okay.

"I'm good!" She pulled her jeans off finally, and she sprawled out on the floor as she caught her breath. "I'm ready for naked time now." She got on her hands and knees before making the next step of standing up. "Stop drinking." Christine ran over to him and grabbed his hand, and he was thankful she made him stop. "Let's goooo." She pulled him down and started to kiss him, and they made their way to his room where he somewhat shut the door before landing on the bed. "Get over me I don't like top."

"Okay got it." He rolled over so she was below him, and Christine got his pajama pants halfway down before she got distracted with his shirt. "Let me do the undressing since I at this moment in time am a lot more sober than you." Christine put her arms up and Erik was grateful for the assistance as he pulled her shirt off. She sat up so he could get her bra off, then he had her underwear off in seconds.

"Now you I'm over here all naked and you- you're all dressed." Christine rolled over onto her stomach and crawled into the center of the bed before getting back up onto her hands and knees. "Hurry up I can only stay like this for so long."

"I am I am." Erik practically ripped his shirt off, and he moved up behind Christine, but before anything could happen she fell down.

"I changed my mind. I wanna be on my back. Less effort." She flipped over onto her back and spread her legs, and Erik moved over her as she itched her nose. Christine pulled his head down and kissed him repeatedly.

. x .

Christine smiled when she woke up in Erik's bed, and he was asleep next to her. Flashes of last night reminded her that she really needed to stop having large amounts of wine. She was fine with the sex, the sex was great, but she was stupid and pretty sure she broke something. Thankfully she didn't need to vomit so all was good. She just had a pounding headache. She gently stretched out as she yawned, which apparently woke Erik up. His first thought was why the hell did he drink? It wasn't like he intentionally got her drunk to sleep with him. It would've been fine and he wouldn't want to stab himself in the eyes with ice picks. "Good morning." He tapped her butt in attempt to be cheery despite his pain.

"Shhh. I- I feel like I've made a big mistake."

"Which is?" He tried not to panic since he probably didn't mean what they did, but he panicked anyway.

"I drank too much."

"Oh, yeah no you were an interesting character last night."

"Yeah? So I'm not making those memories up?"

"Nope." She also dropped a couple L bombs, but saying it when you're drunk just doesn't count so he wasn't going to bring them up. "You tried to convince me to have anal sex with you. That memory is real as well."

"Oh my god did I really?" Christine pressed her face against his arm in embarrassment.

"Yeah. It's okay though, it was pretty funny."

"Was it?"

"Yeah. Last night was a lot of fun, laughing and sex wise."

Christine lifted her head up and smiled when Erik didn't seem annoyed. "It was, wasn't it? I'm glad I came over." Christine placed her hand over Erik's stomach. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pee and clean myself up which is going to be a bitch."

"Had I known you weren't going to do it after we were done I never would've listened to you."

"I know, this is my grave and I dug it. Is there a shower I can use?"

"Yeah." Erik sat up, and when the headache got worse he groaned. "Follow me." He walked into the bathroom she always used, and so she got up and joined him in said bathroom. He turned the shower on, and he grabbed her a towel and washcloth from the small closet he had in the room. "You can shower if you'd like. I'm sure you feel like you're covered in bar gunk."

"I do actually, thank you." He kissed her on the cheek, and Erik was looking forward to her being in the shower so he could take his damned mask off.

. x .

Christine finished zipping her suitcase up, and Raoul was standing in the doorway watching her. "Brown?"

"Yes." Christine decided it was time for something new, so she had Jennifer, her hair stylist, dye her hair brown. Of course Raoul had a couple questions.

"Why brown? Why not blonde?"

"Because I've been blonde my entire life." She lifted her suitcase up and set it down on the floor. "Now, I'll be back Monday. I love you, I'll take lots of pictures and all that fun stuff. I'll call you when I'm checked in, kay?" Christine kissed Raoul's cheek, and she smiled for him when he rubbed her butt. "Down boy. Love you."

"Love you too. Have a safe flight and be safe... You know I don't trust him, but I know you can handle yourself."

"I know you don't trust him, why, I don't know. God forbid he saved my life and was angry at you for putting me in a position where I thought my boss was a better person to call for help then my own fiancé." Christine smiled once again, then left the room and walked over to the front door. "But yes, he's such a horrible person who made it so your fiancée was still alive for when you came home the next morning... Bye." She left their apartment before the conversation could go on any further, and when she got down stairs, Erik was waiting.

"Good afternoon, Christine." Erik wasn't sure if the Lawyer was around so he kept it professional.

"Good afternoon, Boss Man." She smiled at him while walking to the back of the car so she could put her things in the trunk. "Are you ready to party?"

"But of course. As we all know, investors birthday parties are pretty rambunctious."

"Hey, free booze and food is all I need to have a good time. Such a negative Nelly."

"You have a good point." He picked up her heaviest bag and set it in the trunk, then after she put the second bag in, he shut the trunk and moved to the drivers side. "Let's get to the airport." He opened the door and sat down, disappearing from Christine's direct view.

. x .

Christine saw a guilt free nap opportunity on the plane, so she of course took it. Which left Erik to work, watch her sleep and just watch the clouds and passing towns. When she laid her head on his arm he found difficulty typing, so like the sap he is he stopped using that arm and enjoyed the feeling of complete and utter bliss. But of course all things must come to an end. She moved a few minutes before waking up since the plane was starting to get a little shaky due to snow and wind in the lower altitudes in D.C. The process of getting out of the airport was rather quiet between the two, and the drive to the hotel was pretty much the same. Christine didn't bother to break the silence until they got to the hotel when she had a question. "When is the party?"

"In..." Erik checked his phone for the time. "Four hours. So I suggest we get ready."

"Oh so it's tonight then." Erik nodded as the elevator came to a stop, and Christine pursed her lips. She wasn't sure if she should mention that she was way too tired to party, but she accepted his invitation so she had to go to the party. "Well I guess I should hurry." Christine stood to the side as Erik unlocked their hotel room door, and she walked in when he held it for her. "Will there be like a meal available? I'm starving."

"Of course. And the little things people love so much..."

"The word that starts with an O? I'm not sure how to say it though."

"Orderves?"

"Yeah that one!" Erik came into the room, and once the door was closed he took her by the hand and pulled her against his body. Christine smiled despite knowing she needed to get ready, and she watched as Erik examined her almost.

"I like the brown hair. It looks good on you."

"Why thank you. I was looking for a change, y'know? I've been blonde all my life so I just decided brown since red and black were a big no."

"Yeah black would've washed you out… So I'm going to take a shower, would you like to join me?" He waited for an answer, and when she turned and ran for the bathroom he assumed that was a very odd yes.

. x .

Erik walked into the bathroom while tying his tie, and Christine was putting the final touches on her hair while singing along to some song he'd never heard before. He originally went in to see if she was almost ready, but he didn't want to stop her from enjoying herself. Plus it was a sneak peak into who she was when she thought no one was looking which he enjoyed. She started to dance and it took all of Erik's will power not to laugh, and when she turned towards him and saw him she screamed and dropped her hairspray while covering her face. "Oh my god Erik why were you watching?!"

"Because it was cute!" He walked into the bathroom and unplugged the curling iron before hugging her, and she shook her head.

"This is embarrassing. This is so embarrassing it's not even funny. Hold your arm up for me." Christine took his belt off, and when she started to wrap it around her neck Erik almost had to laugh since she was short enough that it could've worked.

"Let's not resort to extreme measures, okay?" He took his belt from her and she frowned as he put it back on. "Are you ready to go? I hope you are because that dress… You make it not a tube of black fabric." Erik spun her around and she blushed since he was already wanting to skip the party to get her naked. "I feel like I'm fourteen again."

"Why?"

"The beautiful woman makes me nervous and I'm constantly hiding my penis."

"Well," she glanced down and smiled when he wasn't lying about the last part. "I'm glad I'm helping re-live your wonder years." Christine could barely keep a straight face with that statement, and Erik could tell.

"Yeah fantastic years. I mean sure they were awkward and hormonally unbalanced, but sixteen was my last good year."

"What do you mean by that?"

"That's a story for another time. C'mon, food awaits us at the party."

. x .

Christine was slumped in her seat, which happened to be a comfortable couch she never wanted to leave. She had a feeling it was the full stomach talking, but she was usually not one to pass a good couch up so only time and digestion would tell. Unfortunately Erik finally found her, and she had a feeling he wanted her to get up. "Christine?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at him, and she found the angle rather good for him.

"Would you like to dance?"

"Uhh..." She could barely breathe, let alone dance, but before she could respond, he took her hands and pulled her up off the couch.

"Good. I've been itching to dance."

"How many drinks have you had?" They blended into the dancing crowd, and her skin turned into ice when she felt his hand on her back.

"Uh one. When I'm nervous I'm cocky. I apologize for making myself look like an ass at any point in time tonight."

"Apology accepted in advance... I'll have you know I'm painfully full, and I may vomit if we spin so please don't spin."

"I can do that." She smiled and looked him in the eyes, and she saw nervousness but also something else. "Are you enjoying yourself so far?"

"Yes. It's been fun... I've yet to meet the birthday boy, but I have a feeling I'll meet him soon."

"What gives you that idea?"

"I'm with you, and I want cake. I can't have cake till I meet the birthday boy, if I don't and I take cake it's rude."

"Well if it gets you cake I'll make sure you meet him." She pressed her face against his chest so he couldn't see her excitement. Erik smiled despite knowing she was hiding her blushing, which was probably one of his favorite things to watch her do.

. x .

"Christine, this is Jon, Jon this is Christine. I was lucky enough to have her agree to join me tonight." Christine shook hands with the older man, she couldn't pin point whether he was from Austria or Germany, but she was getting closer to a conclusion.

"It's a pleasure, Christine. If it's not beyond my say, you are one lucky man. So how long have you two been dating?" Christine was caught mid sip on her champagne, and it went into her nose and Erik almost laughed had she not been in pain.

"Dating?" She pinched her nose and tried to play through it despite it being obvious what she did. She thanked Erik when he handed her a napkin, and she dabbed at her nose and the champagne running down it.

"She and I are just testing the waters at this point. Nothing official." Erik made sure she was okay since liquid up the nose always hurt.

"Well, hopefully you two enjoy the waters. So what do you do, Christine?"

"I'm an artist at his main company. I draw ads and logos and things like that. Nothing substantial or important."

"Bullshit. She's my top designer. She puts out more work in a month than anyone else, and she has the lowest return rate. Without her I don't know how I'd be functioning... She makes my life so much easier." Christine was touched by Erik's words, she'd never had her hard work noted by anyone before, and while she knew it was just apart of being a grown up, she enjoyed being recognized every so often for her hard work.

"Thank you, Erik."

"No, thank you." He took the napkin from her hand and wiped a drop of champagne off her cheek that she missed, then tossed it in the trash that was a few feet away.

. x .

They found a quiet corner towards the end of the party giving them some time to talk. Christine felt bad for her reaction to Jon's question, she just didn't know what to call them since it was obvious they weren't just friend but they also weren't dating yet. "Thanks for answering that question. I wasn't really sure what to say."

"Oh you're welcome. You were busy removing champagne from your nose anyway." Her cheeks warmed up since that was not her proudest moment, and Erik enjoyed the reaction. "Are you having fun?"

"I am. I've probably gained a pound or so with how much I've eaten, but hey, when in Rome."

"Don't worry we'll work it off."

"Oh well aren't you a confident one. What makes you think I'm going to have sex with you tonight?" Erik was silent, and he made a valid point. "Okay you're right… Watch this." Since no one was around she decided to tease him by sticking her hand in his pants and lightly tickling his friend making him jump.

"Good lord that felt weird." Christine giggled and took her hand back as Erik continued to stare at her. "You're so beautiful." He caressed her cheek, and she smiled as he leaned down to kiss her.

Christine wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed, and she giggled when he pinched her butt, but she didn't stop the kiss. He'd need to do something bigger to get that to happen. Sadly, air became an issue so the kiss did have to stop, but let it be on record that Christine was not pleased at all. "What are you doing to me?" She grabbed his arms as she worked through the high kissing him gave her. She pressed her face against his chest and he savored the moment since he knew it could only last so long.

"Hopefully the same thing you're doing to me." She smiled and kissed his chest, but she heard the door open so she knew the moment was over unfortunately.

"Oh sorry, I didn't think anyone was in here." In all honesty their quiet corner was a bathroom on the second floor. Erik had to laugh as he shook his head.

"It's fine. We just needed to get away from the noise for a few minutes." Erik took her hand, and the two left the bathroom so it could be used for its intended purpose. They went back down stairs, and Erik didn't stop walking till they were in the middle of the dance floor.

"Why are we dancing?" Thankfully it was a fifty year old man's party so it was all slow music, and not something they'd hear at a club, but still.

"Because I have an incredibly large issue right now and you haven't gotten cake yet. This is the best place to hide it."

"We can go, like the cake probably isn't that good and I can make some when we're back in New York."

"No don't worry about it. It'll go away, but until then we're dancing." She smirked and let him pull her closer to him as they tried to dance so they looked like they knew what they were doing.


	14. Chapter 14

"The cake was... Amazing. I need to go to rich people parties more often." Christine tossed her purse onto the seat next to her as Erik climbed into the car. "Can I tell you something?"

"Sure."

"I will go to any parties you want me to go to, as long as there is a pastry or baked good there." He couldn't help but smile, and when he nodded she laid her head back on the seat. "I think I'm going to go to bed when I get back to the room. I'm tired."

"We did dance a lot, and if you're anything like me, socializing makes you tired."

"It does to some extent, but nothing major." Christine decided to kick her shoes off and put her feet up on the seat... Did she mention Erik got them a limo? Yeah... "What really makes me tired is cake."

"You should be passing out soon if that's the case." She laughed and swatted his leg making him chuckle.

"I had two small pieces, and no jokes will make me feel bad about it. I probably have like five hundred dollars worth of food in my stomach right now. That fucker needs to feel pampered."

"I'm sure it does." They spent the rest of the ride talking mostly about the food and some of the horrible clothing choices they saw which Christine found amusing. When they got to the hotel Christine put her shoes back on despite her feet protesting against it, and they made their way up to their room.

"Thanks for the party." Erik unlocked the door and pushed it open while Christine rest her head on the wall.

"Thank you for coming. You made it a lot easier on me having you there."

"Oh you're welcome. I'm glad I made you less uncomfortable." They walked into the room, and Christine went straight to the bed and planted face down. "Oh bed how I've missed thee." She felt Erik take her shoes off, and she rolled over onto her back to see what he was planning. He set her shoes in the row of shoes she had in the closet, and then he grabbed her pajamas and makeup wipes from the bathroom. "I can do all that."

"You're tired." He sat down next to her and pulled a makeup wipe from out of its container, and she shut her eyes as he started wiping her face off. "You're so beautiful." He finished wiping her eyes off before wiping the foundation and other things he didn't know about off her face, and once he was done she opened her eyes.

"I seem to be a lot of things to you tonight."

"It's not my fault you're a lot of things." He sat her up and unzipped her dress before wiggling it out from under her butt, and pulling it up and over her head. He got her bra and stockings off before debating on putting her pajamas on, and she got distracted by her breasts to notice his inner conflict.

"I have cute boobs." She cupped them before bouncing them, and that helped Erik decide to put her pajamas on. She only had four drinks, but she was the size of a peanut so she was definitely buzzed. "Hey let's have sex." She threw herself at him, and he was trying to figure out how she went from relatively normal to tipsy so quickly. "I mean it would be a shame to end the night by going to bed. That's what old people would do."

"I think we should go to bed so you don't have a bad morning."

"I'm just a little tipsy. I can still count to one hundred and say no to drugs which means I'm good. I don't get hangovers with champagne and vodka."

"I find that very hard to believe."

"Pleaaaase? I'll be fine I promise." She kissed him, and she smiled as his hands touched her back ever so slightly. "I am giving us the okay to do this." She took his hands and set them on her breasts, and he eyed her before kissing her as they laid down.

. x .

Christine was woken up to the smell of bacon, which of course would wake most anyone up. She was touched when Erik was setting a plate down on the table across from the bed, and she was enjoying his lack of clothing besides his boxers. "Did you get me bacon?"

"Yeah, I ordered room service since I feel like staying in this morning. I got bacon, eggs, orange juice and strawberry crepes." He moved over to the bed allowing Christine to see the rest of the plates, but her attention was pulled back to Erik when he sat down on the edge of the bed. "You look marvelous this morning." He tucked her hair behind her ear, and she kissed his wrist once it was in her reach.

"Thank you. I have you to thank for that I suppose… Plus I told you I don't get hangovers with champagne and vodka."

"Oh?" He leaned down and rest his forehead on hers, and she indulged in a kiss before responding.

"I hear sex does wonders for the skin and hair."

"Your skin is a bit shiny now that you mention it, but your hair on the other hand looks like someone was roughhousing with it the entire night."

"Geee I wonder why." She giggled before kissing him once again, but it only lasted a moment due to her stomach growing. She blushed, and Erik pulled her out of bed so they could eat.

"You can wear this if you'd like." Erik held out a red v neck shirt, and Christine smiled when it was the shirt he offered her the first time they were together.

"Thanks." She slipped into the shirt since it was kind of cold in the room, and they sat down at the table. It was silent for the first minute or so, so Christine decided to start rambling. "My mom and I made crepes a couple times. I remember one was strawberry and we drizzled them with hot fudge, and then the other time we made peanut butter chocolate which was for my dad's birthday. He loved peanut butter and chocolate. Like anything with that combination he'd try... What's your favorite memory with your mom?"

"Uh... The day I left home was a pretty good memory. That's probably my first fond memory, actually."

"Your mom and you didn't get along?"

"No it was more than that. Not getting along is tolerable, wanting me dead is another."

"Well she can't literally want you dead..." She judged Erik's facial expression, and explored the possibility of her being incorrect. "Right?"

"She's why I look the way I look, she was abusive, and having her as a mother just basically changed my entire life in a matter of minutes... I used to be hot." Christine wanted to giggle, but she knew it was a serious topic.

"What did she do?"

Erik wasn't sure if he was interested in telling her the story right then and there, but if he didn't he worried that she'd get mad at him and leave. He'd stalled enough. "I came home from school one day late because I got detention for a stupid prank. She was furious, and she started hitting me around which was normal for me. Everywhere I looked I saw that it was under no circumstance okay to hit a woman, so I never fought back. Before I realized what she was doing, she shoved my face against the fireplace that was surrounded by rough, and jagged stone and dragged it down.

She hit my head before so I was a little slow from that, and so I couldn't get her off of me. The bitch was strong. Once she finally stopped my face was just completely torn, and she took it upon herself to stop the bleeding with a hot knife. I passed out from the pain, and woke up in the attic locked in there, and for two years I was stuck up there until I turned eighteen, and she kicked me out of the house. Which I'm not complaining, it was a blessing, actually. So since she was neglectful my face got infected and it was disgusting, and my face has looked like shit ever since." He looked up at Christine, and her face was blank which was not what he was expecting at all.

"Let me see." And that's what he expected to happen.

"Ha no." He grabbed his fork, but sighed when Christine pulled it away.

"Please." She wanted to see it, not because she was curious, but because she wanted to know the type of issues she was dealing with. "I couldn't help you then but I can help you now, just let me see." She got up and sat down in his lap.

"How do you think you could help me?" He didn't want to laugh at the idea, but it was pretty amusing.

"By showing you that what that woman did- doesn't affect our relationship. It's just some scars, Erik. Just let me see. God knows I have plenty of my own."

"And you think you not having a problem with it will help me?" He didn't imagine four years brought on such naivety. "Christine my problems run a lot deeper than just needing the seal of approval from the woman I've had sex with a few times."

"Is that all I am? A woman you've had sex with a few times?" She had to admit, she was pretty hurt by that.

"Well at the moment yes. What am I to you? The love of your life? No I'm the guy you've had sex with a few times. Whatever we become is not what we are right now, and my feelings for you are unimportant at this point in time."

"Okay you have a point." She was horrible at whatever they were. "But please, it's not like you have one big problem, you have a bunch of small things that'll solve it in the big picture, and one of them is probably having a woman who doesn't care."

"What are you a therapist?"

"I minored in psychology because it's interesting to me." She smiled, and Erik sighed.

"Well I guess if you run it's better now than in four months and you've left your fiancé." She held back any comments, and she put her hand on his mask. She kissed him as she slipped her fingers under the edge of the mask, and like a band aid she ripped it off. With her eyes closed she sat back, and when she opened them she couldn't help but gasp. He was right, it was pretty damn ugly. All his pores were gone, he kinda had an eyebrow but not much of one, his lips somehow survived, but now that she thought of it, it was somewhat harder on the right side, and around it was hard skin. In some places there were dips where skin must of been infected the most, and he had a couple small scars on his eyelid.

"Well... You're not wrong. It's pretty bad-" Erik tried to look away, but she grabbed his face before he could. "but I don't care. You're still you. Scars tell stories, your scar happens to be bigger, but you have a big story behind it."

"What about yours?"

"I slip in and out of clinical depression, and I've been suicidal more than three times, what do you think? They're nothing special nor specific to me."

"Ah."

"They're mostly from when I was a teenager and young adult." Christine put her hand on his cheek and tried to bring the attention back to him. "Does it hurt?"

"Not a lot. It's tight, so certain things kind of sting."

"Oh..." She did all she could think to do, which was kiss his cheek. Which caused a result she really wasn't expecting, nor was Erik.

"I love you." He didn't want to tell her that so soon, but it was true, plus it just kind of slipped out. It was gone before he could realize what he was saying.

"Erik-" she felt herself panicking, mostly because she hated confronting her problems.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to say that right now. It just kind of came out."

She put her big girl panties on despite not wanting to, and decided to deal with it. "Don't apologize for your feelings. Obviously I'm not sure if I share the same feelings yet, but knowing how you feel means a lot." She pecked him on the lips and got out of his lap so she could sit back down in her own chair. "Now let's eat, I perform better with food in my system." She waited until he was looking down at his plate to smile, in all honesty knowing he loved her made her feel like she could do anything and be anyone. It was an exhilarating feeling. She pulled his mask away before he could grab it after noticing him eyeing it. "No mask around me when we're alone, okay?"

"I'll try. I basically wear that thing twenty four seven, it's kind of a safety net for me."

"Well you don't need a safety net with me." She set her hand on top of his arm, and he tried to seem confident in his smile, but she could tell he was uneasy.

. x .

Christine insisted on showering in the middle of the afternoon, which Erik didn't mind since Christine wet was a sight to see. Lucky him, after they got out Christine couldn't keep her hands off Erik long enough for them to actually dry off with a towel, so they decided to air dry which neither of them had a problem with. They took a break so Christine could go to the bathroom, and when she got out of the bathroom her phone was ringing. "It's the Lawyer." Erik handed her the phone, and her good mood somewhat disappeared. She didn't want to go back to real life.

She answered the phone despite not wanting to, and once the call was answered she started talking. "Hello?"

"Hey sweetheart, how's the trip going?"

"Oh it's going good. I've just been relaxing and I finally just showered and put some actual clothes on. I feel like the world is judging me if I sit in my pajamas all day."

"You're not out exploring D.C.?"

"Nah. Not really interested in going and seeing places that were once cool, however are currently being used to fuck over millions of people." Christine ran her fingers through Erik's hair, and she found the feeling of his hair moving through her fingers addicting.

"I can see your point. Well relaxing is good too... He hasn't tried anything, has he?"

"Nope he's been the perfect gentleman." Technically she made the move on him, and he hadn't tried anything, he succeeded in everything.

"Okay well don't drink too much around him, he might be waiting for that."

"Oh my god, Raoul. Seriously? We talked about this before I left. He saved my life, and you get jealous because I wanted him in the room and not you, and now you think he's out to take advantage of me? That's bullshit and you know it... I don't like your jealous side at all so I suggest you get rid of it." She smiled when Erik pulled her down on top of him, and she found herself biting her lip as his hands explored the parts of her body that he could reach for the thirtieth time.

"Okay maybe you're right, but still. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will be. Hey I gotta go, I'm gonna run downstairs and grab some food."

"Alright. Enjoy your trip and have a good night, baby. I love you."

"Thanks will do love you too." She quickly hung the phone up, and tossed it to the side. Needing to destress, she moved down and started kissing Erik rather urgently. Erik placed his hands on her hips, but when she stopped suddenly Erik nearly whimpered.

"Is it that you lied to him?"

"What? I didn't lie to him. Everything I said was the truth." Her smile returned and he was trying to figure out why they had to stop kissing.

"Oh?"

"Well technically I made the move, you've been a perfect gentleman always making sure I'm satisfied before we are done. You've not tried anything because everything we've done you've passed with flying colors. Besides I lie to him about being happy all the time."

"Well that's depressing, but it's good to know I'm doing good." He pulled her back down so they were face to face, and she sighed when he grazed her neck with his lips until he finally decided to bite at her throat.

"If this is what I've been missing out on, I want to know why my mother hated me."

"You probably wouldn't get this with the Lawyer. He's selfish and doesn't appreciate you. Those are two things that make for bad sex."

"He kind of appreciates me."

"Don't sound so sure, if you say it again you may convince me." She knew he was right, but Raoul had to appreciate her since they were engaged... Right?

"You're a butt, but you're right. I don't know, most of the time I don't feel like he does."

"While he may, he's not showing to you that he does which isn't what a fiancé should do." The topic was really killing Christine's mood, so she put her hand over his mouth while contemplating what to do.

"I don't want to talk about that when we're together like this anymore. Okay?" Erik nodded and she smiled. "Cool." She moved her hand away from his mouth so he could proceed with kissing her neck.


	15. Chapter 15

Christine learned that Erik was always surprising her with food when she woke up from a nap, but this time around it was a fabulous dinner. He ordered them sirloin with a baked potato and steamed veggies, but she was most excited for the steak. It smelled to die for. "Thank you for this. I'm starving." She gave him a quick kiss so they could sit down and eat.

"I figured as much. We kind of forgot about lunch." Christine smiled as she cut into her steak, and she knew she was in for a treat when it cut almost like butter.

"You know, we've only been sleeping together for a month and you're already spoiling me."

"I've gotten us breakfast and dinner at times where they're consumed. I'm hardly spoiling you. Spoiling you would be taking you around the world, and buying you jewelry every week because I saw something that reminded me of the twinkle in your eye that I never saw till last night. Spoiling you would be anything but this."

"What about spoiling me by telling me I'm beautiful, and that you love me everyday?"

"That wouldn't be spoiling you." She tried to keep eye contact despite feeling her cheeks and neck warm up. "That would be doing my due diligence as your partner."

"Coming home every night, and rubbing my back so I can fall asleep?"

"Christine, I just want you to know, that I will do my absolute best to be home every night at a rational time, but I own three business' which can make for some late nights."

"But you'd call and let me know you wouldn't be home, right?"

"Well of course. That or before you leave work I pull you into my office and let you know... Maybe give you something to hold you over for the evening."

"Hell a call would be spoiling me compared to what I'm dealing with. Face to face? I'm being treated like a queen."

"You are a queen." Christine finally stood and leaned over the corner of the table so she could kiss Erik. Truthfully she was scared, he would get her excited about how she'd be treated and then she'd leave Raoul and it'd be the same as Raoul or worse. Then she'd regret leaving Raoul, but he'd hate her guts and wouldn't want to see her let alone consider getting back together. Either way, she felt her stomach doing flips which meant she was getting to the point where she would be too far gone to look back.

"When I kiss you it feels like my lungs forget how to work."

"I have a similar problem, but I personally can't complain." She giggled and kissed him once again, but this time Erik cupped her cheeks.

"What did you do after your mom kicked you out?" Christine had been wondering that for a while, and when Erik seemed as hesitant as he'd been with his last story, her heart already hurt.

"Well… I moved in with Nadir, but his parents kicked me out after a couple months, so then one night I was sleeping on a bench in a park when this woman approached me. She took me in rent free, and let me live there until I met Maley."

"Why rent free?" Erik sighed and looked down at his plate and nudged a mini potato over into his steak and gravy.

"A broke ugly kid can only offer so much, which she knew when she took me in and expected as much."

"You guys would have sex?" Christine immediately started to feel sad. "Why would she do that? Eighteen year olds are only so good at sex."

"I don't know. I just know it happened and it's over." Erik didn't like talking about that time of his life. He basically sold himself to stay fed and to get a jump start on the business. "So what time do you want to go to dinner tomorrow?" Erik stabbed the mini potato and bit half of it off.

"Are you embarrassed by what you did? If you are don't be. You did what you had to do."

"No I'm not embarrassed.' Erik refused to make eye contact meaning he was lying.

"Erik don't lie to me." She took his hand and Erik pulled it away, which hurt her.

"I'm not embarrassed, and even if I am the time is done and over with, and it doesn't need to be talked about anymore. Can we please change the subject?"

"I… Yeah. Sorry." Christine took a bite of her steak while thinking of something else to talk about.

. x .

Their weekend came to an end all too quickly, and not leaving the hotel for two days straight was really a nice change for her. She also came to a few conclusions, one of the was that Raoul was a really shitty partner, and the second one was that she was really starting to like Erik and seriously considering that a life with him was possible. She kept pushing it back since they were nonstop, but being able to stop and step back helped her. It would be... Extravagant, and far too rich for her blood, but she would enjoy every second if it meant being with him. It was mildly concerning she had a hard time figuring out if she loved him, because she was supposed to know what love feels like, but either she didn't love Erik yet or she needed to reevaluate her relationship with Raoul. But she had all the things she heard people talking about, and how her mom explained love to her when she was still alive. She decided to try and talk to Meg and see what she had to say. "Okay chicka what's wrong?" Meg handed her friend a beer and watched Christine sort through everything.

"I think I'm in love but I'm not entirely sure."

"Well hopefully you are. You're getting married in a couple months to the guy."

"Not with Raoul." Meg seemed confused at first, then she got that shit eating grin that she got. She wasn't sure for what yet though.

"You might be in love with your boss?! Oh this is just the type of entertainment I needed in my life." Meg seemed too excited for her own good. "Gimme the symptoms!"

"Well we spent the weekend together in DC. He took me to a party, and the entire time I felt like the luckiest girl in there. When we kiss I can't breathe and my heart rate picks up. The sex is mind blowing, he treats me better than Raoul could ever, and whenever I see him I want to puke… Also when I think about long term goals, Raoul isn't in the picture anymore. It's all Erik, and he's so supportive. Like he wants me to go back to college so I can do what I want to do in life. Raoul and his family think what I want to do is stupid."

"Okay you totally love Erik. Like I'm rooting for him. If you stay with Raoul I will remain team Erik because I love you."

"You really think I do?"

"Yeah from what you've told me. Plus I've never seen you this way over Raoul."

"That's another thing. I've never felt like I've had a place since my parents, and with him I feel like I do, and he doesn't make fun of my quirks that I do because of what happened to them."

"Yeah he's definitely a keeper. I'd drop Raoul ASAP." Meg smiled as Christine continued going over everything. "Chris, love isn't over analyzing every detail, it's the little things. The smile when you come home from work, the texts after leaving work making sure you got home safe, the mindless touching just to feel you. It's feeling like you're home no matter where you two are as long as you're together." Christine enjoyed deep Meg. She had good points.

"I know. It's just… My parents liked Raoul. My mom knew about Raoul. So in a way I'm still in a chapter involving them. If I leave him that chapter is over. I'm not as close to them anymore."

"Which I totally get, but your parents will always be there with you, Christine. Your mom and dad want you to be happy. They'd beat you if they knew you stayed with Raoul because of them. Your dad would love Erik, Erik is the man every father hopes his daughter ends up with, and your mom would love him too because he makes you happy. He fills the void they left, and if you could talk to them they'd tell you that."

"I guess you're right… It's just hard." Christine crossed her arms and started work on the next phase. Letting go.

. x .

They returned to real life, and Christine was mildly disappointed. She had to worry about Raoul plus work, and Erik. She really bit off more than she could chew. Two weeks after coming home Christine hadn't really talked to Erik since they were still drowning in work. She was on her way home when her phone went off. She stopped and rummaged through her purse until she found her phone, and smiled after seeing it was him. When it was just him asking her to come to his place Christine didn't even think about it before turning around to get on the right track to getting to his place.

She knocked on his door, and when it didn't take too long for Erik to answer the door, Christine got excited. "Oh thank god you came." Erik took her hand and pulled her into his home.

"Why wouldn't I? I've been waiting since we got back for you to text me." Christine looked around while setting her purse down on the entry table. "So… What are your plans for me?" Christine leaned against the table, and she tried to keep calm. It was pretty obvious that looking and acting sexy was not her forte yet.

"Oh you'll find out when it happens." He pinned her up against the table, and she smiled when he cupped her cheeks. They kissed, and he took her breath away as usual.

. x .

"Thank you for calling me." She really needed the stress relief he just gave her. "I really needed that."

"Don't thank me. I just wanted you to know I still was serious about what I said in D.C."

"I know. I'm still figuring everything out." She moved onto her side and started dragging her nails across his chest, and she smiled when Erik shut his eyes to relax. Christine's phone started buzzing, and Erik opened his eyes so he could look over at her phone.

"You should get that." Christine despite not wanting to stop, leaned over and answered the phone. "Hey, Raoul what's up?"

"Are you coming home any time soon or am I going out for birthday drinks alone?"

"Birthday drinks? What day is today?"

"February fourth."

"Oh so your birthday is tomorrow then… I can't make it tonight. I'm slammed at work and I don't know when I'll be able to get home. Tomorrow night?"

"I have to work late tomorrow night… Just nevermind it's okay." The line went dead, and Christine frowned before setting her phone down on the nightstand.

"Well, he's mad at me for at least three and a half days. Four if I don't go home soon."

"It's only another twelve hours. Besides, I'm out of town for the week so your schedule is free from me."

"Oh well that sucks. This week is going to suck majorly… Damn. Where are you going?"

"Los Angeles." Erik watched as she sat up and moved into his lap, and he smiled as she laced her fingers through his.

"Well, maybe I can get Meg to back me up, and I can spend the night with you? If you want me to of course. I don't want to impose on any girlfriends you may have." She giggled as Erik slapped her butt.

"I don't have any girlfriends you, Butt, but uh… Spending the night? I like the sound of that."

"Yeah? Well I guess I have to stay now." She dug her nails into his chest while grabbing her phone to call Meg. She didn't want to spend the night then find out Meg wasn't up for lying.

"Haaay what's up?"

"Oh y'know. I need you to do me a favor, can you do that?"

"Depends on the favor. What's up?"

"I need you to, if he asks, tell Raoul I was with you the entire night. Erik's leaving town tomorrow and I want to spend some time with him before he goes."

"That's all? I can do that. Have fun lady!" Meg hung the phone up, and Christine tried figuring out why she was being hung up on so much that evening.

"Okay I have an alibi." She tossed her phone onto the floor which was carpet, and leaned down and started kissing his neck. Erik shut his eyes and rubbed her back. "Why me? Why not your fiancé?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you pick me to sleep with?"

"Oh… You seemed like you were better in bed than him. Plus like I don't want him to get his hopes up. Sleeping with him our not, I don't think our relationship has much more life in it."

"Then leave him and be done with it. Spare him being cheated on."

"Okay but consider this, I don't have any money to go anywhere. If I leave him I have to move off the island and quit my job because I don't do commute."

"You could move it with me, or I could help you get a place. Like just be with me already. I've waited two long months for you, I'm going crazy." Christine giggled as he moved her up so they were eye to eye.

"You would absolutely love that, wouldn't you?" She pecked his lips, then Erik held her head there and deepened the kiss. The kiss literally took Christine's breath away so she tried breathing through her nose which helped. She jumped a little bit when Erik squeezed her butt before finally having to break the kiss off so she could properly breathe. "You are a horrible influence."

"Or amazing. It just depends on how you look at it… Now we have an entire evening together, and I need to pack. I'm trying to figure out how I could be having sex with you while packing but I'm not finding a comfortable solution."

"Oh just pack like a normal person then we'll start the evening off right."

"Your suggestion is better… Like way better." Christine started to kiss Erik once again, and Erik wrapped her hair around his hand before lightly tugging on it.

. x .

"You're spoiling me constantly." Christine kissed Erik's cheek as he set the last pancake on her plate, and he smiled.

"It's hard not to with you." Erik moved between Christine's legs and set his hands on her hips.

"Well yeah, but you could be asleep right now, but instead you're making me breakfast."

"I don't want to sleep, we only have so many hours before you have to leave, and I have to leave as well."

"Well, promise me you'll make it a tolerable week." Christine wrapped her arms around his neck, and Erik was more than willing to do so.

"Only if you do the same."

"Deal." She kissed his neck, and Erik wished she'd eat so they could return to the bedroom. Of course he was always interested in counter sex…

"Eat up so we can enjoy each other for a little while longer. We need to sleep sooner or later."

"I'll eat later." Christine started unbuttoning his shirt, and Erik tried not to smile since he admittedly was pretty excited. He loved being with Christine that way, she was always so… Freeing. Like the world around them didn't exist.

. x .

"I really don't want to get out of the car." Christine looked over at Erik and took his hand. "I'm going to miss you too much."

"I know, but it's only a week. Besides, you need to spend time with your fiancé."

"But I don't want to."

"Then why are you with him?"

"Because- I don't know. Leave that to me, and I'll see you in a week." She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek, then climbed out of the car. She walked into her building and into the elevator. Once she was in her apartment she smiled when Raoul was in the kitchen pouring coffee. "Hey birthday boy."

"Morning." Raoul turned away from Christine, and she walked up behind him.

"Listen I know you're mad at me, but I want to make it up to you." She hated angry Raoul, he was so whiny.

"How?"

"I don't know, but I'll figure it out while you're at work today."

"Fiancée of the year right here." Raoul walked away from her with his coffee and briefcase, and Christine felt herself getting annoyed.

"Are you serious? Numerous nights you don't come home, not a single call, you blow me off constantly, and you're giving me crap for spending time with my sister? It wasn't even your birthday till midnight, you whiny asshole. God just go to fucking work. I don't even want to see you, enjoy your birthday with your friends, because I'm not celebrating it with you." Christine walked into their room and shut the door, she needed to shower so she could get to work.

. x .

"He was a total asshole. It was complete bullshit." Christine sat down on the counter as she waited for the shower to heat up.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I wish I was there so you could come over and I could help you forget."

"I do too…" Christine itched her arm and sighed. She really needed to get her shit together. "I'm thinking about leaving Raoul. Just packing my things while he's at work and moving into Meg's place."

"I wouldn't complain about that… So how are you doing?"

"Besides asshole fiancé? Good. Although I do have a secret I need to tell you."

"What's that?" Christine smiled despite knowing what she was going to say.

"I'm naked right now."

"Fantastic secret. You spoil me… Want to send me a picture? I don't think I believe you." She giggled at Erik's predictable request.

"Maybe… Maybe not. I dunno. You'll just have to wait and see. I'm gonna get in the shower, I'll text you once I'm out."

"Enjoy your shower." Christine hung up and got off the counter so she could get into the shower.


	16. Chapter 16

Three days felt like five months, and after five she couldn't take it anymore. Raoul was being a brat, her vagina was getting impatient, and truthfully, the rest of her body was too. She wanted to spend time with him and make him laugh, and other things but mostly laugh. They'd called each other, constantly texted and even resorted to teenager tactics while Raoul was at work and Christine still had time before she had to leave. Her phone over the course of a week went from innocent to a sausage fest and she was okay with that. On day seven when she was getting stir crazy, Erik finally texted her around three AM, and she was up and ready for anything. When he let her know he was outside her door she got out of bed and ran to the door as quickly as she could. When he was telling the truth she squealed and pulled him in before locking the front door. "What are you doing here? Raoul could've been home." She pulled his head down and kissed him despite having just asked a question, but thankfully Erik had good memory.

He managed to get something out, it wasn't much but it was the truth. "Gut feeling."

"Oh you're such a stupid, handsome…" Christine's train of thought faded as they continued their desperate kissing, and she paid no attention to the flowers he had. He set them down on the counter before picking her up and carrying her into the bedroom where he threw her onto the bed. She made quick work of getting her clothes off, and she found Erik in normal clothes rather arousing. "Get that jean wearing ass over here." Erik finished taking his shoes and shirt off before getting on the bed, and from Christine's smile he was close to changing the dress code to casual at work. "Get this stupid thing off." Christine pulled his mask off and set it on the nightstand, and her eyes rolled back when he proceeded to kiss down her chest and stomach to her legs. He bit at her thigh and she grabbed his hair, and when he continued biting but was moving closer and closer to her bikini line she nearly squealed again she was so excited.

. x .

Both Christine and Erik didn't want to risk Raoul coming home to them, so Erik's stay was brief but very eventful. "Come to my place, Maley is in Washington with her parents for the weekend."

"I can't. Raoul will wonder why I'm not home when he finally decides to show his cheerful head this morning."

"Why does he get to be gone all night no phone calls, yet you call and he's whining?"

"I don't know. I guess because I'm dating a giant manchild. Or at least that's my guess." Christine decided to put her hand up Erik's shirt since they were standing there talking. She liked the casual look. Easier access and it was a pretty good look on him.

"Well fuck him. Come with me, I miss you and want to do more dirty things to you."

"As much as I wish I could, I can't." Christine wanted to horribly, but she had something to do. "I'm going to go give Raoul a visit, see if he's actually working."

"No do that next time he's out late." Erik pulled her against him and held her close. "I know you want to come with me, and going to your fiancé's work is an any night thing. So come on, my bed misses you." He decided to go for the cheap shot and kiss her neck, and she acted like it didn't work so he'd do it again.

After a minute of kisses, Christine decided he'd done enough to delay her stalking plans. "Oh okay I'll come with you. Just let me put a bra and some shoes on." Erik smiled as she disappeared into her room, and came back a minute later with her purse and phone. "Okay let's get the hell out of here." They left the apartment, and Christine locked the door before catching up to Erik. "So how was your trip to Cali?"

"Oh y'know. I was just eyeballing some new business possibilities. Nothing really shaped out to be something I'd do."

"Oh?"

"Travel industry. Way too high maintenance." Erik pressed the down button on the elevator, then moved to the stairs. "Take the elevator, I'll meet you in the parking garage."

"Sounds good." The stairwell door shut as the elevator doors started to slide open, and Christine nearly peed herself when Raoul was in the elevator. He was… Well… Surprised to see her.

"Christine? Where are you going this late?"

"I'm staying at Meg's again and I remembered I forgot my phone. So I'm heading back to her place." Christine held her phone up as she moved past him into the elevator. "Because I have to work tomorrow and I'm not coming home before then… So bye." Christine hit the parking garage button once he walked out of the elevator, and when she got to the parking garage Erik was waiting next to the elevator door. "Raoul was in the elevator."

"Seriously? I just thought it'd be just in case, but damn I'm glad I thought of that."

"Yeah… Let's stick to your place from now on."

"Your bed is fun though." Erik took her hand as they walked up to his car, and he couldn't help but pin her against it. "Knowing he could walk in at any moment was pretty exhilarating."

"It was, but still." She smiled as Erik moved down to kiss her, and she put her hands on his butt so she could pull him closer.

"You're an awful influence."

"I know I am." Erik smirked, and he moved over to open Christine's door.

She looked at the door before smiling despite knowing it made her blush more obvious. "Thanks." She sat down in the car, and Erik smiled as he opened his door, and at the same time made eye contact with the lawyer who was looking around the garage. There was a brief moment of staring before Erik got into the car where he shut the door before turning the car on.

"Put your head in my lap."

"Why?"

"He's curious." Christine looked over at the elevators and he was looking towards them, and she put her head down immediately.

"Oh god he knows. This isn't how I wanted him to find out."

"Don't worry you're giving him too much credit. So how do you feel about pizza? I'm hungry." Erik backed out of the spot, and headed for the exit so they could get to his place.

"That sounds good. Pepperoni?"

"Anything you want sounds good to me. So… Can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to but I'd love it if you did… After a week of me being gone, have your feelings changed? Towards me I mean. Like-"

Christine saw where he was going, which meant she needed to go through what she was feeling anymore. She knew she was pretty close to hating Raoul, and she had a feeling she never loved Raoul so if she loved Erik it was promising, because what she felt for Erik was nothing close to what she ever felt for Raoul. So, before putting any thought into it since she knew she would probably be leaving Raoul for him at some point, she made the leap… After sitting up of course. "I love you. I think I did in D.C. but I was scared, and still figuring things out, but now that I've had time to get used to it… I love you, Boss Man." Erik felt his heart do flips in his chest, and he knew the smile was going to be hard to get rid of. When they came to a red light Erik had to lean over and kiss her to keep himself calm. He finally heard the three words he'd been dying to hear her say, and it was enthralling.

"I love you too." Erik leaned back and rubbed her cheek, and Christine felt her cheeks warm up. After saying it out loud, it felt right, and she was glad she just finally said it. The light turned green so Erik had to return his attention to the road, which Christine appreciated since she was rather flustered.

. x .

Christine text Meg letting her know she was her alabi once again, giving Christine and Erik plenty of time to make up for the lost time. They also discovered they were comfortable enough with each other to eat pizza while enjoying each other since they were both hungry and desperate to be together again, especially after Christine's unplanned discovery of her feelings. Of course all good things had to come to an end, which was when nine rolled around and they had to get to work. Of course Christine had to hurry back to her place after taking a nice long shower with Erik. But most importantly, it was warm. She was a sucker for warm showers.

"One question before you go." Erik took Christine's hand, and she had a feeling she already knew what he was going to ask. "When will you end things with the Lawyer? This sneaking around is stupid, and it's only necessary because you're afraid to leave him. You can move in with me or I can help you with an apartment if you don't want to move into my place, or you can stay in my guest room and pay rent if you want to. Just… This sneaking around needs to stop now that we know where we'll stand as a couple once you end things with him."

"I'm still working on it. It needs to happen I know, but it's hard. He's the last person besides Meg that was in my life when my parents were alive, and my parents loved him-"

"You're worried your parents wouldn't approve of me?"

"No as long as I'm happy they're happy, that's how they worked, it's just I'm letting go to more than just Raoul, and it's hard for me."

"I know, and I'm sorry it's hard for you… Take your time, but just remember you are getting married in a little over a month." Christine laughed and kissed his cheek.

"I know drama queen." She pulled her engagement ring out of her purse and slipped it on. "I'll see you at work."

"Sounds good. Lunch maybe? My schedule is pretty clear today so we should go somewhere nice."

"Of course. I'll put my fancy underwear on." She smiled when she could tell he was reconsidering the lunch idea. "I'll see you in half an hour or so. Try not to fire me for being late, I have a good excuse."

"Oh? And what's that?"

"My immature boss wouldn't let me get out of bed or the shower, and since my immature boss is you, I'm pretty sure I have a good chance of not getting fired."

"I'd say your chances are fairly high… Don't test me though." Erik glanced down at her breasts, and she rolled her eyes before kissing him one last time. "Now go get ready before I change my mind on going into work."

"Oh fine. Take all the fun out of it." Christine opened the door and got out as slow as she could, and she smiled when Erik slapped her butt as she hoped he would. She shut the door and walked onto the sidewalk before he pulled into traffic, and she took a deep breath before heading into her building.

. x .

Christine finally made it to work, and when she did Jackie sent her into Erik's office which she expected. "Listen Boss Man I don't think me being late-" Christine shut up as the door shut, and Raoul was standing in the office. "Hey baby what are you doing here? Don't you also have a job that you could lose for not showing up?"

"Yeah but I called them and told them I was stuck in traffic. So… Anyway, I saw him in the parking garage last night. Any clue why?"

"No? He's my boss I don't have a GPS on him."

"Well I'd love to say I believe you, but I don't. Why did I see him in the garage at the same time you left?"

"I don't know? Maybe he's sleeping with someone in the building. You're aware there's like four thousand apartments in our building, right? Are you seriously going to come to my work, drag my boss into our issues and then put me on blast? Raoul this is bullshit. I don't know why he was there, and the fact that you're asking me why is not cool! You're gone nearly twenty four seven, and can't even bother to call me and I never assume the worst, and I'm out with Meg two nights in a week and you're thinking I'm cheating on you? Go fuck yourself. Like that is in no way okay and I'm done with you today. Go to work and fuck the receptionist for all I care. I'm done." Christine crossed her arms, and Erik was doing his best not to smile. He loved hearing the Lawyer get blasted for his shitty behavior. "Erik I apologize for my fiancé's behavior. Your private life is your private life, and he has no right to infringe on it, especially in this way." Christine stepped to the side so Raoul would leave, and he slowly but surely did. "I do apologize."

Once the door shut Erik decided to flirt. "It's alright. If I'm being completely honest, there is a woman there I've had my eyes on for a while now. I just haven't had the balls to ask her out. Maybe you know her?"

"Maybe, what's she look like?" She smiled despite being annoyed at Raoul.

"Well she has beautiful brown hair, her face is soft, but also at the same time screams I like it rough, and her body is to die for. Just thinking about it makes my pants tight. Of course her personality is just as alluring as her body."

Christine used all her self control to keep her hands off of him, and it actually kind of hurt. "I think I know who you're talking about. She lives a couple floors above me with a roommate." Erik nodded and tucked a strand of Christine's hair behind her ear. Christine couldn't help but find the way he was looking at her kind of intense. It was like he was staring through her, but at the same time he wasn't. He looked like she did when she was beyond hungry and had a giant burger in front of her. Yearning, in love, afraid to let go.

"Why didn't you just tell him the truth?"

"Because I want to do it in the privacy of my own home, not where all my coworkers could hear."

"Okay you make a good point." Erik took her hand since he assumed the Lawyer was gone by now, and he pulled her against him and leaned down so he could kiss her. It didn't last long, but it was enough to last him through the day if needed. "Get to work. You're beyond late." He slapped her butt, and she smiled when she spun her around and nudged her towards the door. "Lunch is at one."

"Got it." Christine left his office, and she relocated into her office, where she had enough work to keep her there for three days straight.

. x .

One rolled around far too soon, but she ignored the work and met Erik down in the garage by his car at one like he said. "Listen buddy." Christine stood up from leaning against Erik's car as he walked up to her. "If you want me to spend time with you I can't have so much work. You've given me more than I can do in the time I have all while spending time with you."

"I know and I'm sorry, but it's Valentine's Day coming up, the number one capitalist holiday next to Christmas and sales are everywhere. Everyone is overloaded."

"Well… since everyone is busy I'll forgive you." She opened her door and got in when he finally unlocked the car, and she glanced at her phone as it started ringing. When it was Raoul's work number she frowned and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Christine it's Marvin, have you seen Raoul? He said he'd been in late but I didn't think he meant this late."

"Uh I saw him around eleven, and he was leaving my work, but I can't say with full confidence that he was going into work. Have you tried his cell phone?"

"Yes and no answer."

"Okay, can you just give him the day off? He's going through some stuff and he might be at home having a small breakdown. He'll be in tomorrow, I promise. I'm just at work and I'm really busy and can't make it home till tonight after I'm off."

"Of course. Tell him to take as much time as he needs, a clear head is better than working while going through things."

"Thank you so much, Marvin. Have a good day."

"You too." Christine hung the phone up and shook her head, she really didn't have the time to worry about Raoul.

"Everything okay?" Christine looked over at Erik as he started the car, and she nodded.

"Yeah. Just Raoul didn't show up for work, but it's fine. He's probably out drinking his stupidity away."

"... Okay works for me." Erik put his seatbelt on before backing out of the spot, and Christine couldn't help but wonder where they were going for lunch.

. x .

Monnaly's. Erik freaken took her to Monnaly's. Now like most people would be like, where? But Christine knew. A single plate ran at least one hundred dollars there, and they had two Michelin stars. She couldn't believe she was there, and when Erik saw how excited she was he was glad to be the cause of it. "Do you like the wine?"

"It's amazing." She didn't even bother to ask the name of it since on her own she'd never be able to afford it. "Why such an expensive place for lunch? Isn't this more of a dinner thing?"

"Because it sounded good and I didn't want pizza. Plus you have to go home tonight."

"Good point." Christine continued sipping at her wine as she browsed the menu, and found herself looking for the cheapest item on the menu. "What are you getting?"

"I'm thinking the bacon wrapped filet mignon topped with garlic and black truffle sauce."

"That sounds good…" She saw the price and nearly had a heart attack. "I'm probably going to get the grilled scallop caesar salad."

"That sounds pretty good too… Want to share?"

"That works for me. I'm a sucker for bacon wrapped meat."

"Maybe I should get some bacon on the side for later then." Christine nearly snorted, but she proudly stopped herself, and Erik laughed along with her.

"You are such an idiot. I absolutely love it." She kissed his hand and Erik decided to close the gap between them and kiss her. The height difference really was annoying when they kissed, but if it meant kissing and being with her he'd get over it. Christine cupped his cheeks as he felt his hunger slowly fading, but Christine's remained. Christine kissed him again before breaking the kiss off so she could snack on the parsnip soup and sourdough roll. She honestly couldn't not snack on it since it cost fifteen dollars. "Soup good?"

"Mhm." Christine held the spoon up for Erik to try it.

Erik sipped at the soup, and Erik nodded when it was… Interesting. "It's pretty good."

"Right?" Christine continued eating her soup, and Erik tried figuring the soup out.

. x .

Everything they ended up eating was sublime, and Christine didn't want to say she wanted to go there again, but she really wanted to go there again. "That was amazing. Thank you for taking me there." Christine and Erik were sitting in the garage at work, getting motivated to get out of the car. "Now that I'm full I'm kind of turned on." Christine set her hand on his leg, and she leaned closer to him. "No one is here, and your windows are pretty tinted."

"My back seat is a lot more comfortable."

"Then let's get back there." Christine crawled into the back seat, and Erik had to get out of the car, then get into the backseat. Christine had to laugh when he was grumbling about her being so short. He locked the doors and laid her down under him, and as he got rid of her underwear, she used his jacket once it was off as a head prop. "No more jacket for you today."

"I'll live with that." He pushed her dress up out of his way, and Christine undid his pants.

"Make me forget my name." Christine kissed him so she could pull on his lip, and he growled as he pulled her against his groin. "Boss Man you're so cute when you're in a hurry."

"Yeah?" He smirked as Christine pulled his boxers down, and she couldn't help but blush. "Well you're pretty cute when you're blushing over my dick."

"I'm constantly cute then." They laughed making Christine run her fingers through his hair, then she tugged at the nape of his neck.


	17. Chapter 17

Christine got home that night, and when Raoul was passed out in bed, and there were empty beer bottles and a bottle of vodka half gone, her heart twisted a bit. She felt awful for pushing Raoul that far. She tiptoed through the bottles up to Raoul, and she set her hand on his back making him flinch. "Hey, I'm home." He groaned as he stretched, then finally he looked over at her.

"What time is it?" Christine held her breath when his smelled like the liquor that was gone.

"Eight." She sighed when he put his face back in the pillow.

"Christine I'm so sorry."

"For what?" She sat down next to him, and he rolled over onto his back. She realized it was time to talk when he was crying. She was hurting him, and he didn't deserve it. No matter how much of a dick he was.

"Going to your work, never being there for you- I know I don't deserve you, but please just give me another chance. I love you, and you're my world. Just one more chance, and if I mess up drop me on my ass, because I deserve it. We- we've just gotten caught up in life, we've both made mistakes, but we can push through it. I believe in us." He took her hand, and Christine felt herself being torn in two. She loved Raoul in their own weird way, but on the other hand, she loved Erik too.

"You're right." It physically pained her to say what she was about to say. "And I love you too. I'll give you one more chance, but no more. I can't keep doing what we've been doing. It's emotionally draining."

"I know and I'm sorry." Raoul pulled her down against his chest, and Christine realized it wasn't fair to keep either of them dangling on by a string, so she was going to have to talk to Erik. He deserved better anyway. She faintly smiled when he pushed her hair out of her face, and Raoul felt better when she let him kiss her. She almost didn't, smelling his breath was bad enough, but she wasn't going to put a halt to the moment. When Christine pushed the kiss further when it wasn't as bad as she expected, Raoul almost considered the possibility of her being as drunk as him. "W-what are you doing?"

"If you're going to make sacrifices for me, I should too. My mom will understand." She was such a bitch.

"Seriously?" He was hallucinating. It was the only sensible explanation.

"Yeah. Seriously." She moved onto his lap, and Raoul thought of a quick prayer, because he was definitely being looked after. Or dead. With how much he drank he considered dead to be a more likely option.

. x .

It was… Good. It wasn't mind blowing, but it wasn't awful either. It was just going to take some time to get better. After Raoul fell asleep, Christine got dressed and had Erik meet her at a nearby park so they could talk. The anxiety and need to throw up was going to keep her up if she didn't deal with it.

When she got to the park, and Erik was sitting on a swing, she froze, and she already felt herself crying. Her composure being sniff caught Erik's attention, and naturally he thought it was something the Lawyer had done. "Christine? Are you alright?"

"No. I mean yes but no." She wiped her face and turned down his lap offer, and took the swing next to him. Which of course got his attention.

"Then why are you crying?" He hated seeing her sad, and him helpless to stop whatever was bringing her the pain.

"I- we- I can't see you like this anymore."

"What do you mean? Did you leave the Lawyer or something?"

"No. I mean you'll still be my boss, but I can't keep sleeping with you." The faint squeaking from the hinges on Erik's swing stopped, and she wiped her eyes off. "I'm engaged, and I'm getting married in three weeks. I need to put my big girl panties on and work on my relationship instead of quitting so easily."

Now he was wanting to throw up just as much as she was. "You just told me last night you love me though."

"I do, but it's not fair to Raoul for me to jump ship so quickly. I need to get you out of my head so I can see if there's even a fighting chance for he and I." Christine stood up, and she finally got herself to look at Erik. "I'm so sorry, but I'm marrying Raoul, and that's that. I'll see you at work tomorrow." She took his hand and squeezed it, and she hiccuped as she tried to stop blubbering. It wasn't making her all that understandable.

"Just like that it's over? Is he threatening you?"

"No, I made this decision on my own. He doesn't know about us." Christine kept her wall up when he pulled her up to him, and she felt his hands on her sides.

He swallowed his pain and heartbreak, and accepted it. "I love you, and you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, but if this is what will make you happy… Then go. Be with Raoul and I hope you two can work it out. If you ever need anything just come to me, okay? I'll always be a friend when you need one."

She sighed in relief when he didn't push for her to change her mind, she couldn't handle that. "Thank you." She kissed his forehead, then let go of his hand and hurried away. She needed a drink, and a long night's sleep.

. x .

She couldn't believe she actually called it quits with Erik. She went to bed when she got home, and when she woke up she hoped it had all been a dream, but the makeup stained pillow was proof that it hadn't been. Thanks to the stress and pain she was feeling she threw up the breakfast she forced herself to eat right before leaving for work which was a fun time.

Sadly when she got to work, and Erik wasn't there, she knew it wasn't because he was late. When she asked Jackie where he and Nadir were since Nadir was gone too, Jackie was a wealth of knowledge thankfully. Apparently he canceled everything on his calendar for the week and went to Las Vegas. If that wasn't the cliche breakup destination…

She tried not to get too into thinking about it since he wasn't with her anymore, but just thinking about him drinking and most likely enjoying strippers made her blood boil. She hoped since Nadir was married it would keep the trip mellow, but she didn't keep her hopes too high.

After a nice salad for lunch, then throwing it up ten minutes after, she left since she couldn't seem to keep anything down. She gathered her things, then went home where she slept until Raoul got home. He had been planning to surprise her with dinner, but when she was already home, he opted for take out. "Why are you home early? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, I've just been a little nauseous today. I'm probably just starting my period soon."

"Do you need any pain meds? Heating pad? Tampons… Like I can run out and get you whatever you need."

"No I haven't started yet. Thank you though." She rubbed his arm, and Raoul tried to think of a way to bring up the night before without making it seem like he was wanting more right then.

"You're welcome… So… Last night… Did you have fun?"

"Can I be honest?" Raoul's stomach twisted as he nodded, and Christine sighed. "It was good." Raoul let out his pent up breath, and Christine smiled. "I had fun, it was painfully obvious that it was our first time together."

"Oh thank you. I thought you were going to say I was awful."

"No not even close to awful. So what do you want for dinner?" Christine wasn't really in the mood to have sex, so she was thankful her period was honestly coming up.

"I'm gonna order Chinese food."

"Mongolian beef for me please. I'm gonna take a shower." She sat up slowly, and Raoul eyed her nap hair as she climbed out of the bed. "I'll be out soon."

"Okay. I'll get dinner ordered." Raoul went back into the living room as Christine searched for a pair of knee length sweats.

. x .

"I am not enjoying this feeling." Erik groaned as he put his head in his hands, and Nadir offered him another shot.

"What feeling?"

"Like a pain in my chest, and I want to vomit and cry and punch something." Erik took the shot up off the bar and put it down without any chaser. He was drunk enough he didn't need one anymore.

"You're heartbroken. I would be too if she ended it."

"Is this what being in love does? I don't like it." Erik rest his chin on his empty beer bottle. "I love her so much, and the Lawyer is such a piece of shit. I can't believe she picked him."

"I know you don't want to hear this, but you had the disadvantage. The Lawyer is her fiancé, they have time and memories together, nostalgia, the parents… Like you were basically hoping your dick was good enough to win her love."

"I won it though. That's the shitty thing. The night before she broke it off she told me she loves me, and she said she still does when she broke up with me. She just wanted to give the Lawyer another shot or something. See if their relationship is redeemable. I'm gonna go look at some boobs."

"Don't go look at boobs. You'll regret it."

"Why?" Erik lifted himself up from the bar, and he grabbed his beer and headed towards one of the stages. "I'm single, what the fuck does it matter?" He found a seat right up by the stage, and Nadir wasn't too far behind him.

"My wife is going to kill me, Erik."

"Or don't tell her you went to a strip club because she thinks we're in London working." Erik found his wallet and he pulled the cash he had out, and he shrugged his shoulders when all he had was hundreds and fifties. "This woman has no idea how lucky she is."

"Why?"

"I only have big bills." He grabbed the first hundred and tossed it at the blonde dancing against the pole in a blue sequin thong and black stilettos.

"Jesus Christ, Erik how much do you carry in cash? Don't spend it all either way."

"Why not? I have eighty million where this came from… Or something like that." He threw another hundred, which got the woman's attention. Erik watched as she bent over to grab the cash, and Erik shut his eyes when he was seeing Christine's breasts and not the strangers in front of him.

"What's wrong? Never seen breasts before?"

Erik sighed at the picking the woman was doing. "No I have- I just have some stuff in my eyes." He opened them, and when it only made it worse he stood up. He avoided eye contact since he was seeing Christine's breasts and face at that point. He grabbed the wad of cash from his wallet and tossed it at her. "Here. Finish college or whatever has you here. That should be like eight thousand." Erik found his way outside, and he couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. He could only go so long seeing Christine instead of other women. His mind wasn't giving him a fighting chance. With his inability to see breasts and being out of cash, he decided it was time to go back to the room.

. x .

"Erik!" Erik sat up when someone threw a pillow at him, and he looked around the room before at the pillow thrower. "Oh good you're alive."

"What do you want, Nadir?"

"Why'd you disappear last night?" Nadir sat down on the foot of the bed, and Erik rubbed his eyes while trying to fight through the dizziness.

"Because all I could see was Christine's breasts. Then I saw her face, and I gave the stripper eight thousand dollars and ran. Hopefully she spends it wisely and not on crack."

"Oh… Dude you're fucked."

Erik signed. "I know." He laid down, and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm doomed."

"Yes you are. The minute you start seeing their body parts on other women… Good luck getting out of that one."

"Thanks for the assistance. You're good at reminding me why we're friends."

"I know I am. Now get up, I'm hungry." Erik kicked the covers off, and he disappeared into the bathroom to grab a quick shower. He felt like strip club.


	18. Chapter 18

A week in Vegas really helped Erik, but the second he saw Christine, all of the progress was gone. She looked… Different. She looked kind of puffy, her butt was bigger… He tried ignoring it since it wasn't his business. However Alicia had an obligation to let Christine know. "So I say this with love, but you're a little puffy today."

Christine shot Alicia a glance since she already knew that annoying fact. "Believe me. I know. It's hard not to, I feel like a fucking marshmallow."

"Period?"

"No. Not yet at least." Christine sighed and crossed her arms when she felt oddly agitated by Erik's presence.

"Running behind schedule?"

"Mhm. I've been really stressed lately. I think I'm getting a cold, my body has been really achey for the past week." Christine shut the folder she was eyeing, and Alicia glanced at Christine's ankles, and when they were even bigger than the rest of Christine, she bit her tongue.

"Yeah, it's cold season so it makes sense." Christine frowned when she noticed Alicia give her a once over before walking away.

"Okay that was weird." Christine left the break room with her tea and file, and she avoided Erik who was talking to Hannah, who was on her way to her office. She felt her body immediately turn on when she smelled his cologne, and she scolded herself as she sat down. She couldn't find him attractive anymore no matter how physically painful it was to her.

. x .

Day after day, she woke up, threw up, got ready, ate then left for work. Final wedding plans were finished, she did one more dress fitting which gave her a panic attack, and let her know she put on five pounds. Not her favorite thing in the world, but she lived.

Her period never came, but thanks to her birth control it was pretty normal, even the spotting was. However, when she went to her gyno for her yearly four days before the wedding, and something _very_ abnormal popped up, she was so fucked. "Pregnant?!" She was faint, but she couldn't stop looking at the not usually there dot on the ultrasound. "What the fuck! Please tell me I'm like three weeks along."

"No. I'd say due to the size and your last period that you're around ten weeks." Christine covered her face as she felt the world around her collapsing. She whimpered as she started to cry to help with the stress and impending scream building up inside her. "I'm assuming this isn't happy news."

"No it's awful! I- I was sleeping with my boss for the last few months, and it can't be Raoul's. The timing doesn't work. Fucking kill me." Christine sat up as she wiped her stomach off, and Mel tried to think of something to say.

"You're not far enough along that you'd have to get the procedure done. You can still do the pills. Either way I have to take your IUD out while you're pregnant."

"What? What do-" Christine realized what Mel was hinting towards, and she almost was considering it. She couldn't tell Raoul, he'd hate her if he knew she'd been with Erik, but she couldn't _not_ tell him and try and pass the kid off as his. That was royally fucked up. "How long do I have before I can only do the surgery?"

"Two weeks."

Her world was definitely collapsing around her. "Shit."

"Do you want a few minutes alone to process?"

"No." She shut her eyes to help with the spinning room as she considered her options. She didn't have very many, and they all sucked in their own ways. "Just take my IUD out so I can go home and vomit."

"Oh… Okay. Do you want to know when you're due?"

"Sure why not." Who wouldn't want to know the day they were officially fucked? She wanted to have it on her calender to reminder her.

"November nineteenth."

Christine stared up as the ceiling, and she did all she could not to laugh and cry at the same time. "Are you shitting me? That's the day he and I first slept together. Fucking hell." She couldn't believe it was happening, she wasn't… _Surprised_. They never used a condom and they weren't particularly picky about pulling out, but she had birth control. It wasn't supposed to be an issue! She should've been able to fuck thirty guys at once and there be barely any chance of a baby happening. That's what she got for not being sexually active before meeting him, she had no idea if a birth control worked for her or not. "Why did my birth control fail?"

"Well for you, it wasn't fitted or inserted correctly, so whoever you had put it in was an awful doctor who probably shouldn't be doing it anymore."

"Really? It's not even that my body was like "fuck your birth control", it was human error? I'm so mad right now. You don't even know the fiery hatred I'm feeling for my old gyno right now."

"No I can understand your anger. It's how my first came around when I was twenty."

"Really?" Christine felt her anger simmer down some as Mel nodded. She discarded the IUD, and Christine put her feet down since she was in the clear. "That sucks."

"Yeah it does, but not she's an awesome little girl so I'm thankful at the same time."

"Understandable. I'd be not so unexcited if it were my fiancé's."

"Well I think most things happen for a reason, so you'll figure this out and end up better on the other side of it all."

"Or I'll lose my fiancé, get kicked out of my home and get to live on my best friends sofa."

"But that might be what's best."

"Okay are you done?" Christine thought her heart was going to explode she was having such an awful panic attack. She needed to go home before she became a non-functioning sack of meat.

. x .

Erik was at dinner with a couple investors, and he wasn't an expert in anything, but everytime he looked over at the bar there was this woman sitting there looking at him and smiling. Finally after half an hour of the same thing, Erik excused himself. He was drunk, tired and could use a stress relief. He walked over to the woman, and he leaned against the bar next to her. She had black hair, and her eyes were… Nice. No ones compared to Christine's to him, but he needed to stop comparing. "So what's your name?"

"Jamie. Yours?"

"Erik. Can I buy you a drink?" He smiled when she finished what she had, and he flagged down the bartender.

"Vodka cranberry, two shots of vodka. They put more cranberry juice than vodka in them here."

"Duly noted." Erik looked over at the bartender, and he tried to think of what he wanted. "One vodka cranberry, two shots in it please, then a glass of whisky, extra ice."

"So what do you do, Erik?" She set her hand on his arm, and he grew nervous.

"I'm in the art industry. More the corporate side than the free roaming drug side."

"That sounds fun."

"It pays the bills." Erik slid her- her drink when they were set in front of them, and Erik grabbed his and found the cool ice relieving. "What do you do?"

"I'm an accountant. Super fun, I know, but I'm decent at math and it, as you said, pays the bills. In New York City that's all that matters really."

"What company do you work for?" He didn't really hire for the companies he didn't personally run, so he was getting nervous.

"Kidz N' Art." Erik sighed and drank a good part of his drink since she was going to realize who he was sooner or later. "Why the sigh and long drink? Do you not like crayons?"

"No I love crayons. I just- I was hoping you worked somewhere else." Jamie squinted at him, and she nodded when she realized why he drank at the news.

"You're Erik Dessin, aren't you?"

"Bingo."

"No shit. You have a no sex with employees rule or something like that? Is that your disappointment?"

"God no. I'm not stupid, that rule never works." Jamie laughed, and Erik finished his drink while smiling. "You have a nice laugh."

"Oh thank you. I guess it's as good as any laugh." She realized what was happening and she had a sip of her drink before chugging it. "Want to go to my place? I'm only down the block."

"Yeah I'm by Central Park."

"My place it is." Jamie hopped of her seat, and she took his hand as they found their way to the front of the restaurant, which was way too busy for a Monday. They made it through the biggest crowd in the building and ran towards the exit after finally finding it. Erik didn't think he could get lost in a restaurant, but when people were packed in like sardines the door got hard to find. They squeezed through the door, and Jamie tripped over someone's foot, but to her relief Erik grabbed her hand stopping her. Before she could get freaked out over almost breaking her nose, she instead started to laugh, and Erik decided to laugh to since why not. It wasn't too funny, but he needed a good laugh.

They moved away from the crowds, and Jamie lead them the direction of her place, but first, Erik pulled her up against him and kissed her. He wanted to see if it was even going to be worth his while. He couldn't sleep with a bad kisser. When he was pleased with it, he broke the kiss off, and he noticed her cheeks were red. "Let's hurry to my place. I have something special for you." She pulled him to get him to start walking, and he put his arm around her shoulder in the process.

. x .

After three hours of crying and hitting her head on the wall, Christine fell asleep, and when she woke up she realized if she was going to end the pregnancy, she wasn't going to pay for it all herself. It was Erik's mistake too. So she called Nadir to see where Erik was when Erik's phone went straight to voicemail.

She pulled herself together when he was at a rather posh restaurant, but when she got there it became obvious that he was… Well... preoccupied. She stopped walking when he was outside kissing some woman, she couldn't blame him, she was beautiful. He definitely was going up a few levels from her to the woman. She took a deep breath when they headed west, and Christine tried not to cry. It was impossible, it wasn't like she didn't love him and she broke up with him because she hated him. She broke up with him because while she loved him, Raoul deserved more effort and devotion on her part of they were going to work.

She decided to take a walk since she couldn't handle seeing Raoul once he was home from work at that point.

. x .

Erik woke up the next morning expecting to feel regret, but he actually felt… Good. Surprisingly enough. He went home after it was all said and done, took a shower, and passed out. He was tired. Mentally drained, and he didn't know how to make it better besides time. He really hoped Maley didn't feel the need to hug him, he just wanted to go to work with no interruptions.

And she didn't. She was either gone or in her room, but he didn't care either way. When he got to work he went to the bathroom when he realized he forgot to pee that morning, and when he accidentally almost went into the woman's bathroom he paused when he heard throwing up. "You okay in there?"

Christine tried to stop vomiting, but the bagel she had just didn't agree with her one bit. She panicked when she heard his footsteps, and not even ten seconds later he pushed the door open revealing who was throwing up. "Shut the door!" She slammed the door in his face before moving back to the toilet where she threw up more bagel and tea.

"Are you okay, Christine?"

She stopped for the moment which she was thankful for. "Just leave me alone. Vomiting is a one person show."

"Why are you here if you're sick?" He felt like an idiot talking to the door. "After you're done let me know and I'll drive you home."

"Fuck off!" She hated him. He was why she was vomiting profusely every day. He was why she brought a toothbrush with her wherever she went. "I don't want to talk to you or see you."

"Why? You're the one who broke up with me, shouldn't I hate you?"

Damn his logic! "Kiss my ass."

He sighed realizing she was in that mood where everything he said got him called a name. He'd never seen it with Christine before, but he'd gotten it plenty with Maley. "Okay. I don't know what I did to piss you off, but you can get yourself home. Feel better."

She sighed when he left the bathroom, but it didn't last long, when the sigh made more food come up.

. x .

"I need help." Christine was laying on Meg's couch cuddling a pillow. She was close to having a break down… Again.

"With what?"

"So my yearly was Monday, right?"

"Sure. I don't really know your schedule, but I'll believe you." Meg sat down on the chair next to Christine, who Meg could tell was about to crack.

"Something abnormal came up."

"Oh my god you have cancer?" Meg had so many thoughts and emotions she didn't know which one to embrace first.

"No! Just this little growth in my cervix slash placenta. It'll be gone in a month or seven. I haven't decided yet."

"Placenta? That's only a thing if you're- oh… Shit. Who's is it?" Meg understood why her friend was borderline broken down.

"It's Erik's, but I broke up with him! That's why I'm still with Raoul. He's been doing a lot better the past few weeks. Anyway, I'm pregnant and I'm marrying Raoul. I think I'm gonna end it when I get back from Hawaii."

"You think? If you're staying with Raoul it's really the only option."

"Fuck you're right. There's no way I could pass it off as his. The timing is wrong, God only knows if it'll look like a baby clone of Erik."

"Plus it's twenty seventeen and that's a dick move."

"That's another point. Fuck!" Christine punched the pillow, and she tried to say on the border of having a breakdown, but one tear was gonna shove her on her unpreferred side of the border.

"Or… _or_. Hear me out, you get with Erik and have the baby."

"No. He's moved on. I saw him leaving a restaurant with this hot chick."

"She could be a rebound." Christine shut her eyes so she didn't start crying, but it didn't help.

"I don't know what to do. I'm getting married tomorrow and I'm knocked up with another guys kid. I'm such a cunt. This is karma for cheating."

"You have two options, Christine. Get married and end the pregnancy, or call the wedding off, end it with Raoul and have the baby. Even if Erik's moved on from you, he'll help you with the baby. He's not an ass."

"True. I don't think I'd be able to swing single mom. God I'll just end it."

"End what?" Meg tucked her foot under her butt, the conversation looking like it was taking a turn ol for the end.

"The pregnancy. The other option runs too many risks. Can you get me my water and tums?" Meg got up and went into the kitchen where Christine's things were. When Meg found ultrasound photos near Christine's tums, she snuck one of the photos into her bra. Meg wasn't one to mess with people's lives, but Christine needed some messing with.


	19. Chapter 19

Meg went AWOL after getting ready for the wedding, since she had an errand to run. She needed Erik to at least try. Christine was so much happier with him, and as Christine's best friend she couldn't let Christine make such a dumb decision. She went to his office, and when he was sitting at his desk rubbing his temples, she cleared her throat get his attention. "What?" Well someone was in a snappy mood.

"I'm Meg-"

"I know. What do you want?"

"Uh… Well I wanted to show you this. Christine is making a big mistake, and I was hoping you could talk her out of it." Erik took the paper from Meg's hand, and he tossed it onto his desk after realizing it was a baby.

"What the hell am I supposed to do about it? Does she want money?"

"No! God stop PMSing for two minutes. She's marrying Raoul and terminating the pregnancy. She thinks you've moved on. Would you go and fucking talk to her? This is your kid too and you two need to have a serious discussion about it."

"If she wants to get an abortion that's her decision. I don't expect her to end her relationship for me."

Meg sighed and tried to keep her cool, but as usual, it didn't last. "Mother fucker. She loves you! She is fucking miserable, and you're just going to let her go without a fight?! No wonder she left your pathetic ass! What woman wants a guy who won't fight for her? I know she doesn't! You don't deserve her or this baby, you worthless sack of shit. You disgust me." Meg went to grab the photo, and she jumped when he grabbed her wrist.

"That was rude."

"I don't fucking care. Now let my wrist go so I can go see my best friend marry a real man." She ripped her hand away, leaving the picture in hopes of it helping him grow a pair. She left the man alone, and she went towards the elevators to get back to the wedding.

. x .

When Meg got back to the church, Christine was in the room pacing and grabbing at the back of her dress. "Where have you been?! I can't fucking breathe! Unzip me!" Meg hurried over and undid the zipper on Christine's dress, and she watched her friend grab the table nearby as she gasped for air. "God I can't do this!"

"Christine you'll be okay. You got this. It's just pre wedding jitters."

"This is pre wedding jitters?!" Christine showed Meg her arms, and they were covered in hives.

"Jesus Christ. Let me help you cover them up. Did you eat something you're allergic to?"

"I'm not allergic to anything, it's stress. God I'm fucked." Meg grabbed Christine's concealer and foundation, sat her friend down and got to work. If Erik wasn't going to fight for her, she was going to make her wedding day as amazing as possible. "He's going to want to have sex and be romantic all while I'm continuously sick every morning. He's going to figure it out."

"No he won't."

"Yeah a month of consistent morning sickness isn't obvious AT ALL!" Christine whimpered as Meg started on the first of… Many hives. There wasn't enough makeup to do half an arm let alone both.

"Okay maybe you don't need to cover them."

"I don't have enough makeup do I?" Meg shook her head, and Christine whimpered. "I can't deal with my actions."

"Well this is what happens when you decide to have sex with your boss. Unsafe sex I may add."

"I had the IUD, my old gyno put it in wrong. Fucking idiot. It shouldn't have been an issue not using condoms."

"STD's."

"He got tested after the last time he had sex, and we all know I didn't have any."

"Oh… That sucks." Meg started rubbing Christine's arms to help with the stress, and when there was a knock on the door Christine shut her eyes.

"She ready?" Christine growled when it was Raoul's dad. They got in a week ago and it was painfully obvious they weren't excited.

"Yeah. Get everything going." Meg stood up, and Christine found the strength to after a few seconds. She took a deep breath before Meg zipped her dress back up, then she grabbed the bouquets. Christine took hers, and they left the room as the music started. "You got this Christine. Once you're married you'll be laughing over how ridiculously stressed you were over it."

"I know. I've wanted this since I was fifteen. I'm not gonna fuck it up now because of a stupid mistake… Well multiple stupid mistakes but you know what I mean."

"Yeah you're good." Meg flipped Christine's veil over, and Christine was glad it was there, it helped hide her distress. Meg hooked her arm though Christine's, and the door opened before anyone could run to Christine's dismay. Meg took the first step since it suddenly felt like Christine's feet were made of steel, which got her to move.

She looked at all the people there to watch her get married, and finally she looked at Raoul who was smiling at her. She forced a smile, and when the walk that was far too short was over, she took his hands after surrendering her bouquet to Meg. Meg ignored the broken flower stems since she knew it was Christine's way of not screaming. Raoul flipped her veil back, and Christine perked up once her face was visible.

. x .

Erik sat at his desk looking at the photo of the ultrasound Meg have him, and he tried not to care. She made her choice, she could handle it. He'd help with the cost of the procedure obviously, but he wasn't going to care. It was a mistake that they weren't even ready for as people.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Nadir walked into the room, and his friend could immediately tell something was up. "What's wrong?"

"Christine's pregnant, and she's getting married in like ten minutes. According to her friend, she's getting an abortion."

"She wasn't even going to tell you?"

"Why would she?" Erik leaned back as Nadir walked over, and picked the photo he spotted on the desk, up.

"Because it's your kid too. Go talk to her, crash the wedding if you have to. She can't ignore you and run away from the problem. She's being a child. Besides, you fucking love her. Go fight for her or you didn't deserve her love in the first place." Nadir set the photo down and left the room, and Erik was starting to think he wasn't doing the right thing. Nadir was the second person to tell him that, except Nadir was on his side. He also wanted to know why Nadir came into his office in the first place, but that was a conversation for later.

Before he could change his mind Erik stood up, grabbed his car keys, the ultrasound photo and something from his desk drawer that he wasn't sure if he needed or not, then hurried out of his office. He had about eight minutes to get to the church, which he was thankful he knew the address to. He was nearby when Christine was on the phone with someone talking about it one day.

The elevator took what felt Iike a year, but when it finally arrived he held down on the parking garage button so he didn't have to stop on ten more floors on his way down. When it actually worked that time he was thrilled. The last time he tried it, it didn't work and his minute elevator ride turned into a ten minute one. He ran over to his car when he got into the parking garage, and he hoped to God he didn't get stuck in traffic.

. x .

Christine managed to get her vows out without throwing up, but her breathing left much to be desired. "Christine, not many people have the luck of finding their soulmate so quickly, but I guess we're just blessed. You have brought so much happiness into my life, and I can't thank you enough. You're my best friend, and I know we've had our ups and downs, but we've pushed through it, and I know we have the strength to get through anything. I-" the doors creaked open stopping Raoul, and Christine and Meg's jaws dropped simultaneously when they realized it was Erik. Raoul on the other hand frowned. "What the hell is he doing here?" He tried whispering but it was a church so… "Did you invite him and not tell me?"

"No I don't know what he's doing here." She looked over at Meg who was smiling, and Christine realized where Meg had gone to. "Fuck me in the ass." That earned a couple gasps since they were in a church and Raoul's family was extremely Catholic, but at that point she didn't care.

"I have an objection or whatever it's called! I can't think of the word right now." Erik realized he had no idea what to say besides that. "We need to talk, Christine."

"Really? Right now? I can't get married first?"

"Uh… No." He looked at everyone who was staring at him, and he felt himself sweating more than he did in important meetings. Probably because this was his chance at being with the woman who completely changed his life for the better. No pressure! He held the photo up for her to see so she knew why he was doing what he was doing. "I love you, Christine, and everything I said the night you broke up with me… It was bullshit. I can't let you go without a fight. You make my life so much better, and I can't imagine spending the rest of my sorry life with anyone but you. Please give me a chance. I-" he didn't go for the B word. He wasn't going to beg… Yet. If it came to it he'd do a lot of things to get her.

Christine let go of Raoul's hands, and Raoul was amazed at what was happening. "What? No! You fucking freak! Can't you just leave my fiancé alone?! It's our wedding for fucks sake!" Erik watched as Raoul walked over him, and Erik grabbed the man's hand before he could throw a punch.

"No I can't leave her alone because you are a piece of shit that doesn't deserve her. At least I tried to be a man worthy of her affection." Erik squeezed the Lawyer's hand making him cry out, and Erik let go when he got the message. "Good. Now stay out of my way. Punching people is rude." Erik walked up to Christine who was frozen, and he set his hands behind her elbows. "What do you say? I know about the pregnancy, and if you want to keep it I can't let you get married. Like I will kidnap you and tie you to my bed if I have to."

"Why-" she could barely speak. She was shaking, she felt herself starting to sweat, and her throat tightened up. There was a high chance she was going to vomit. "Why did you do this to me, Meg?"

"Because as your best friend, I had to step in. You were making a really stupid decision. Like driving while drunk and on cocaine stupid."

"It wasn't that stupid." Christine crossed her arms, and Meg shook her head.

"I'm not one to intervene in someone else's life, but this needed to happen. You can't just not tell a baby's father you're pregnant and end it. That's bullshit. You two need to sit down and talk about it."

"You're pregnant? With his kid? Christine what the hell? I trusted you!" Raoul walked away from her, and she tried to sort through her thoughts as quickly and safely as possible. "You're such a cunt." The hurt in Raoul's voice snapped Christine out of her zone out, and she looked at Erik. She saw the hope, anxiety and concern in his eyes, then she looked at Raoul, and he was staring at the hand he was cradling.

"I- I don't- I can't deal with this right now." She tried to move away, but Erik held onto her arms.

"I'm sorry, Christine, but you need to deal with this because you made the decisions you made, and now you're dealing with the consequences. You need to decide what you want."

"I want to take a nap away from you two. I don't want either of you right now. Both of you can fuck off for all I care." She got her arms free and carefully went down the three stairs, then hurried down the aisle then pushed the large wooden door open so she could leave. She needed time to think. Plus she couldn't in good conscious leave her wedding with another man.

. x .

Christine went to the apartment, packed up all her valuables abd some clothes and fed Dolphin one last time. She changed out of the wedding dress, which she laid across Raoul's bed, but she was ready to just say fuck it to everything. Especially the god forsaken wedding dress Raoul's mom forced on her. Christine personally hated a-line wedding dresses. They were so underwhelming, and they made her feel like she was wearing a long pajama dress.

She left the apartment, and went to a hotel so she could sit and think. However she ended up sitting, then immediately napping. When she woke up to a hundred or so missed calls and texts from Raoul and Erik, she decided it was time to deal with her problem.

Christine texted the two of them the address of her hotel, and the number of the room she was staying in. Unsurprisingly, Erik got there first. She had a feeling he completely disregarded the speed limit when it came to getting to her. "You thought you could just end the pregnancy and not tell me? That's so fucked up, Christine." Erik sat down on the bed, and she crossed her arms.

"I wasn't not going to tell you, however I saw you kissing that black haired woman so I didn't interrupt."

"Black haired woman?" Erik had honestly already forgotten about Jamie, and it had only been three days. "Oh! Jamie. You saw me kissing Jamie, okay. How did you know I was at that restaurant?"

"Nadir. So back to the original point, it never crossed my mind to not tell you. I just didn't get the opportunity to."

"Well just know I had already forgotten that woman, and either way, you broke up with me and I'm single. I can sleep with who ever I want.

If you wanted loyalty you shouldn't have broken up with me." He knew she wasn't upfront complaining about him sleeping with another woman, but he heard the annoyance in her voice.

"Listen mother fucker don't use any of that bullshit logic! I was trying to save the relationship that I had been in for five years. Can't you respect me doing to mature thing?"

"In every other situation, yes, however in this particular one, no. Come on, Christine. Your attempt was bullshit and the marriage wasn't going to last. Raoul was going to find out you're pregnant, he'd get understandably furious and divorce you. Or even if you did manage to get it past him without him knowing, the first week you got back from your honeymoon we would've gone right back to having sex. We can't not have sex. I know the only reason you even considered the attempt at the relationship was because he cried, begged and then had sex with you."

"How do you know all that?" Christine sat down in the chair nearby, and Erik shrugged his shoulders.

"Because I know what would make you consider such a tremendous waste of time, and it's those three things." She glared at him as he rubbed his hands together. Erik was trying to subtly get rid of the sweat. "Now will you please just let me be your boyfriend or fiancé? Either one, I don't care… Whatever makes you happy." Erik pulled the ring he'd been keeping in his desk drawer out of his jacket pocket, and he opened the box so Christine could see it.

"W-why do you have an engagement ring? Is that Maley's or something?"

"No. I bought it last month to show you how serious I am about us to help you make the jump, but I never got the chance to show it to you." She sat back as she stared at the ring, it was amazingly stupid, but with Erik she liked stupid and rash. "Please? I love you with all my heart, soul and body if the last one is possible."

"Erik, what if I don't want either of you right now?"

"Oh… I mean that's fine too." He put the ring back in his jacket pocket, and Christine was feeling torn. On one hand she was disgustingly in love with Erik, but on the other hand, she'd been in a relationship for four years… She wanted a break, but she wasn't sure from what. Being with Erik was so easy, but- Suddenly she realized why she wasn't ready.

"I'm just worried I've lost myself. I've been with Raoul since I graduated college, and I want to step back and see who I am after college. I've been so worried about Raoul's parents that I haven't acted certain ways to keep them from bitching."

"No I understand. Before we go any further into that conversation, what do you want to do about the pregnancy?"

"I'd rather not have an abortion if I don't have to, but if you're not ready then terminating it is better than bringing a child into a world where their parents aren't ready."

Erik knew he wanted a family, but he never pictured the mother of his child and him not being in a relationship. "I mean… I'm ready. If you're willing to be apart and raising a child then I guess it'll work."

"I mean we may not always be apart. I hope neither of us find another person in the process."

"I won't be looking." Christine forced herself to keep the eye contact up despite Erik's intense stare. "You're the love of my life, and until you tell me to stop, I'm going to be waiting for you to be ready."

"You'll be waiting a long time if you wait for me to say stop." Erik smiled before standing up, and he walked over to the slider door to look at the breathtaking view of a brick wall Christine had.

"Okay, back to your wanting to be single. Since you're keeping the baby, I have one requirement for this."

"Which is?" Christine stood up and walked over next to him. It felt weird not being able to touch him.

"You're moving into my guest room. I want to be close by in case anything happens or if you need help, and when you get closer to having the baby."

"Maley is in your guest room though."

"Not anymore." Erik tried not to smile so he didn't look like a complete ass, but he was just so happy that the divorce was finalized and Maley was gone. "The divorce finalized last week. She's been gone since the day I got the phone call."

"Oh wow that's great news! Congratulations!" Christine hugged him, and Erik did his best not to get lost in the feeling of holding her.

"Thank you. I'm pretty excited to have that chapter end finally." Erik patted Christine's back, and went to pull away, but Christine held on. She couldn't help it, she was hormonal and he smelled like a snickerdoodle. When she took a deep breath against his chest, Erik realized what was happening. "I think we've gone way past the friends length for hugs."

"We're having a baby let me hug you." She held on tighter, and Erik was working on ignoring her mixed signals. Christine on the other hand felt her resolve slowly disappearing with each breath he took. She had to keep it together, she wanted to be single, plus there was a chance Raoul was coming so they could all talk. "You smell so good all the time."

"Just friends, Christine." She whimpered, and Erik bit back a laugh.

"I'm pregnant though, and I haven't had sex in two weeks! Can you make an exception for me? Pretty please?"

"Are you begging me to have sex with you?" Erik was definitely getting mixed signals.

"Yes, but as a friend and future father to our child. If I weren't pregnant I wouldn't be this desperate."

"You are awful at being single." Erik wasn't going to have to be asked twice. He picked her up, and Christine nearly cried she was so ready to get some of her pent up frustration out.

"I'm being single right now." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and she kissed him as he laid her down on the bed. He had a feeling she was going to give up on the single thing within a few days. She pulled his mask off as he kissed down to her throat, and when he bit her neck she couldn't help but moan. "Oh my god bite harder." She got goosebumps when he did as she asked, and he dragged his nails down her leg, then back up so he could get her shorts off.

Erik stopped and sighed when someone knocked on the door, then he got up from over her. Christine pulled her shorts up as she got up, and she hurried over to the door. She made sure Erik had his mask on before opening the door, and when it was Raoul she was relieved. He deserved an explanation, just not in front of one hundred people. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk. You deserve an apology." Christine moved to the side, and Raoul walked in, but turned and went to leave when her boss was there. "Raoul no!" She shut the door stopping Raoul, and he crossed his arms since he didn't want to be in the same room as her, but especially not in the same room as her and her boss. "Please just give me five minutes."

Raoul checked his watch, and Christine took that as, "your five minutes start now" type of thing. "Four minutes fifty seconds."

"Oh- uh I just- I'm sorry, okay? I love both of you so much, but he was there for me when I needed someone. It started right after I got out of the hospital, and I was going to call us off, but you got drunk and I saw how much you were hurting over me being distant, and so I broke it off with Erik and tried to work us out. Then I found out I was pregnant because my last gyno put my IUD in wrong, and I was going to end the pregnancy and marry you, but Meg wasn't having any of that plan… So I guess none of what I just said matters, besides that I'm sorry. I don't expect you to like me, I don't expect us to come out of this talking, I just want you to know, I never planned on any of this happening. I tried, I really did try."

"Why do you feel the need to tell me all that? I don't care when it happened, or why it happened, I care that it happened. Believe it or not, I've been faithful the entire relationship, and I wasn't the one refusing to have sex. Enjoy your life, Christine, and thanks for wasting five years of my life. And you," Raoul looked over at her boss who was sitting on the edge of the bed. "fuck you."

"Fuck you too, buddy." Erik waved as the Lawyer left the room, and Erik unbuttoned his jacket as Christine turned and looked at him.

"I guess he had a point."

"He's an ass, it doesn't matter." He shrugged his jacket off, and Christine wrung her fingers as she tried to wait a respectful five minutes before returning back to her previously scheduled event, but watching Erik take his jacket off cut the five minutes back to five seconds.

"Oh fuck it." She moved onto his lap, and she kissed him while pushing him back. Erik grabbed her hips as he embraced the fall, and he laughed when she ripped his shirt open instead of bothering with the buttons. "I'll buy you a new one."

"Don't worry about it." He pulled the now broken shirt off, and Christine immediately felt better when she ran her hands down his chest.

. x .

"I'm no expert, but you can't say I love you in a friendly hook up."

"I can say whatever the hell I want." Christine cuddled up against Erik, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Thank you for the amazing time. I really needed that." She forgot how much she loved rubbing his stomach after sex, it was a nice wind down.

"You're welcome." Erik sighed as he withheld his comment to himself, but Christine being Christine, she pushed.

"What was the sigh over?"

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"Think about what?" She sat up, and Erik watched her hair fall down over her shoulders.

"It's not important. So do you want to stay here tonight or do you wanna move into my place?" Christine looked over at the clock, and when it was eleven at night, she wasn't going anywhere. Except maybe to open the door when she orders some dinner. That she'll do.

"I'll stay here tonight, it's late. Now what are you thinking about?" She climbed out of bed so she could gather her and Erik's clothes, and Erik realized it was time for him to go. Friends didn't have long talks after sex. This was going to be the death of him.

"It doesn't matter." He climbed out of bed, and Christine handed him his clothes.

"You really don't like this arrangement do you?" Christine set her hand on his arm as he looked at his clothes.

"No, but I'll be fine. You don't want a relationship right now, and I'm not going to force you into one so I'm happier. I'm happy knowing at the end of the day, we'll hopefully end up together."

"You sure? I don't want you to be miserable."

"I'm not miserable." Erik set his clothes down and pulled his boxers out of the jumble once he found them. "I'm content and disappointed, but you know me. I'm an instant gratification type of person so this is new to me."

"I know. Well I'm glad I can make you wait. Instant gratification isn't always the best thing to get." She unballed his shirt as he put his pants on, but then stopped when she remembered the buttons. "I… Didn't think that one through."

"No worries, I drove here." Erik took the shirt from her and slid it on despite the lack of buttons.

"Oh good." Christine made a mental note to pick all the buttons up off the floor once he was gone. "Let me know how much a new shirt will cost you."

"Nah. I'm good." He put his jacket on, and Christine hoped he'd take his time putting his shoes on.

"Why?"

"Because I have more money than you. Plus what we just did was completely worth having to buy a new shirt." She blushed, and Erik's good mood disappeared when he couldn't kiss her forehead like he liked to do when she blushed. He sat down and slipped his socks on, and Christine decided clothes weren't a bad idea for her either. She had her bra and panties on when Erik tapped her elbow getting her to turn around, and to her dismay he had his shoes on. "I'm gonna head out now. I'll be back tomorrow morning so we can get you moved in."

"Okay." She forced a smile as she followed him to the door, and she suddenly remembered that she had a doctors appointment next week. "Hey, next Tuesday I have a doctor's appointment. It's mostly just tests, but I'd really appreciate it if you could be there."

Erik had five meetings Tuesday, but suddenly his schedule was clear. Amazing. "Okay, I'll put it in my calendar. What time?"

"Nine thirty. She didn't tell me how long it's going to take though."

"No that's fine, I'm free so no worries. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow." Christine waved as he walked away, and when she shut the door, she realized that she didn't like being alone.


	20. Chapter 20

Christine groaned when someone was knocking on her door, and showed absolutely no sign of stopping. "Wakie Wakie sleepyhead! You didn't do that much work yesterday!" Christine giggled since he wasn't lying, and she dragged her sorry ass out of bed. She stumbled over to the door where she messed with the locks as Erik continued knocking.

She opened the door, and Erik continued his knocking motion even when the door was gone. "Oh my god dude, _stop_. People are trying to sleep."

"People are out seeing New York City because it's twelve thirty." Christine looked over at the clock as she laid her head on the door, and when it was twelve thirty two, she yawned.

"I sleep till one on the weekends now."

"Unless you have to move. C'mon momma, let's get this shit done so neither of us are struggling for motivation later." Erik walked into her room, and Christine sniffed when she got a whiff of hashbrown. Sadly her stomach did the opposite of what she was hoping for.

"Oh god." She covered her mouth and ran to the bathroom when she felt the vomit rise up to her throat, and Erik realized greasy hash brown maybe wasn't the best idea to bring a pregnant woman. In his defense, he had no clue what was a no and what was a yes.

He walked into the bathroom, and she was hunched over the toilet, grabbing the seat for dear life as she violently threw up any of her dinner that may have been left. She hated throwing up, her entire body clenched up as she got sweaty, her mouth tasted bitter no matter how much she brushed her teeth… It just sucked. "I'm sorry, I didn't think that through very well." Erik grabbed a washcloth and wet it down with cold water, and he wrung it out as Christine sat up and flushed the toilet. He knelt down next to her, and she looked up at him as he started to wipe from top to bottom. He got rid of the tears first, then the snot, then the vomit on her mouth and chin.

"It's okay. I always throw up in the morning, it's just a matter of when." Erik folded the cloth in half and proceeded to wipe her entire face off to help her cool off.

"That sounds awful."

"It is." She shut her eyes, and enjoyed the cool cloth against her skin. He wiped her neck, ears, forehead, cheeks and the back of her neck in hopes of helping her, and when she put her head back against the wall and smiled, he knew he'd done somewhat of a good job.

"Feel a little bit better?"

"Yeah. Thank you." She needed to brush her teeth, but she wasn't ready to stand up. "So what's in the bag?"

"A breakfast burrito. It has eggs, bacon and hash browns."

"Shit that sounds good." Christine rubbed her stomach, and she tried to figure out her next course of action. She was hungry, but she needed to brush her teeth, but she wouldn't be able to eat for a little while if she did, but she had a feeling her current breath situation would make food taste off as well. "Can you help me up?" Christine out her hands up, and Erik took them so he could pull her up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. So I'm gonna start loading you things up. Did you get anything from the apartment?"

"Just what I needed and couldn't replace then some clothes."

"Okay." Erik left her to brush her teeth, and he picked up the first two suitcases he was going to carry down.

. x .

Christine was putting her clothes away when Erik knocked on her door, and once he was inside she stopped so she could pay attention to him. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. If you don't like the room you can take mine… If you need a different mattress I can get that-"

"Erik I say this with the utmost of affection, you're a _little_ pathetic. I'm not going to take your room because I don't like this one. It's your room and you're going to keep it."

"You don't like the room?"

"No I was talking metaphorically, if I didn't like the room, I wouldn't even consider taking yours. It's yours, keep it and enjoy it. And the mattress is amazing in here." She rubbed his arm before going back to hanging her clothes up. "So I want to help pay the rent and all that. Can we work something out?"

"Nah." She looked over at Erik as he leaned against the wall.

"Why nah? The bills must be massive for this place."

"Not really. I paid for this place with cash so I just have monthly bills which are something I can handle myself. Any money you put towards them will be so insignificant to me, but significant to you, that I don't want you to help with the bills. You agreeing to this is plenty."

"Seriously?" Christine almost didn't want to argue so she could save up, but she wasn't a twat so she argued. "I can't live here for free."

"Then buy food every once and awhile. I dunno. Just don't worry about the bills."

"You're a stubborn turd."

"I'm many things, however you're correct on that." Christine giggled as she zipped up her first suitcase to put it away. "So you're nine weeks?"

"Probably ten by now."

"When are you due?" Erik walked over and took the suitcase from her so he could put it away.

"I got it, and November nineteenth." She watched as Erik froze mid-putting the suitcase up in the closet, and he looked over at Christine.

"No shit."

"Yeah that was my reaction." Christine unzipped her second suitcase, and Erik finished what he was doing when his arms started getting tired.

"I'm feeling Italian for dinner. I think I'm gonna go get some spaghetti. Do you want some?"

"No thank you. I have a business meeting tonight with some guys in London so I have to be at the office at two thirty."

"In the morning? I'm no mathematician but that's _at least_ three hours between then and dinner time. Are you avoiding me already?"

"No- I just don't think going out to dinner is something friends do."

Christine wasn't sure why, but she felt her switch turn on, and she was suddenly in bitchy mode, and no matter how much she tried to stop it- it was there to stay. "We did it like ten times before we started sleeping together! The difference is after dinner, we don't fuck! God Erik you're making this so fucking overly difficult. I don't know why you think friends don't do _anything_. What, next you don't think friends go to the movie? Talk on the phone? Text?"

"Yes they do but we just fucking slept together yesterday. Friends don't do that."

"Then forget that it happened. I'll take care of my needs myself when they arise. I'll go to dinner by myself, enjoy your two in the morning meeting."

"Normally that's what a friend would do when they get horny. Masturbate, not go to their friend for sex."

"We're not black and white friends, Erik. That's painfully obvious. I'm pregnant with your kid and so when I want to have sex, you put on your big boy pants and have sex with me unless you're just completely not in the mood."

"Why do I have to subdue to your every whim because you're pregnant? I was under the impression that you knew how to pick a competent gynecologist when we made the decision to have sex without condoms."

"Because what happened happened! I'm sorry I'm fucking ruining your life. _This_ is why I was just going to get rid of it and marry Raoul!" Christine tossed her shirt on the bed, and Erik pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why?! Because you think Raoul wouldn't bitch and moan the minute you got pregnant with his kid?! Because he was such a fucking winner?! He would've gone back to ignoring you and treating you like a disposable piece of shit immediately!"

"Because you think I'm stupid! I didn't know he put it in wrong! Just because I have a vagina doesn't mean I know how to put a god damned IUD in! He could've shoved the mold in there and for a second I would've believed him when he said he did it right! You think because you're disgustingly rich that you know more than me, and that I'm beneath you, well fuck that! I have money too! Now I'm just as fucking smart as you!" Christine realized she said the last part out loud, which she didn't mean to. It just came out.

"I don't think you're stupid or beneath me… Why did you have to sleep with him? We were doing so well."

"Because that's what I do. I fuck shit up." Christine crossed her arms, and Erik rubbed his eyes when suddenly he was drained. "Put yourself in Raoul's shoes besides him being a jackass. I'm sleeping with Raoul, and you know we have a chance, but I'm too busy fucking Raoul and planning a life with him that I can't focus on even trying to fix us. We've hit a wall, we've never slept together, you get drunk and say these things that make me realize I need to give you all the attention I have to try and get things to work.

I drop Raoul, and I sleep with you as a last ditch effort to save our relationship, and it works. The spark is back some and we're happy, but then I find out I'm pregnant with Raoul's baby, and I have two options, go to Raoul and break your heart, or break my heart, get rid of the baby and marry you because that's the right thing to do. I made a promise, we're happy and the wedding is in four days. Can you blame me for doing what I did, had you been Raoul?"

"No. I can't blame you." Erik hated that she put him in Raoul's position. It stripped him of any and all abilities to be mad. Now he just felt like a piece of shit. "You did the right thing, and I realize now I shouldn't have stepped in at the wedding. I'm sorry for fucking your relationship up." Erik left the room, and Christine tried not to feel bad, but he sounded so defeated, and she wasn't even sure over what. She made her decisions. She had her part in everything, yet he made it sound like she had nothing to do with her relationship with Raoul dying.

She looked down at the pair of underwear she had been wringing when she heard a rip. She rolled her eyes and tossed them in the trash, it was definitely time for some new underwear.


	21. Chapter 21

Christine couldn't sleep that night, knowing Erik was still thinking he ruined her relationship with Raoul. She did, really, he was just a willing accomplice. She never in a million years would've thought to blame him. So naturally at one am, she got out of bed, got dressed and headed out to find somewhere to get Erik some food that wouldn't give him listeria.

Thankfully she found a pizza place still open, and she headed to the office. She couldn't imagine walking that everyday, she definitely was going to have to get up and go with him everyday. Or take the subway, but that was something she avoided at all costs. She would rather walk than take that germsicle.

She flashed her ID when she got to the building, and she was amazed at how fast the elevator was at one am… But then again not really since normal people were at home sleeping. She got up to their floor, and when Erik's door was open she walked in while lightly knocking. That got Erik to look up from his papers, and he seemed surprised that it was her. "Hi."

"Hey. What brings you here at…" Erik looked for a time, and he seemed relieved when it wasn't two thirty yet. "One forty three?"

"I couldn't sleep. I don't like how we left off earlier." She walked up to his desk and set the pizza down for him. "You didn't ruin my relationship, Erik. I did. I decided to sleep with you, and I decided to tell Meg I was pregnant. I partially told her because I knew she would push me in the right direction… I realized that earlier. She just did it in a bigger way than I expected. I never would have ever blamed you for what happened between Raoul and I, and I don't regret a single thing you and I did. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, because I love you so fucking much, but I need to make sure I still know who I am before the baby comes."

"We both did. I could've said no, but I didn't. I could've ignored Meg, but I didn't and I could've used a condom, but honestly I feel like it's against the law to use them if no one wants to use them, there's birth control in the mix and we know we don't have any STD's."

"I know. So we're both to blame here, but please don't feel bad. Even I don't feel bad."

"What does that say about your relationship with him?"

"That I shouldn't have been marrying him." Christine picked up a pen off Erik's desk and started to doodle on her hand. "But I know that now so it's all whatever at this point."

"Okay then. You should get home and get some rest. Take my car, I'll get a cab."

"No I'll get a cab." Erik looked up at her, and she suddenly felt like she was being scolded by her dad. "Don't look at me like that. I feel like you're my dad right now and that's gross since I just had your penis in my mouth a day ago."

"Sorry, but you're five two and pregnant, and it's late at night. I'll get the cab." Erik held his keys out for her, and she slowly took them from him as she worked on her fear of parking garages. But then she gave up, because who was she kidding? It was a ten plus year old fear. That shit wasn't going anywhere.

"Can you walk me to the car? I hate parking garages."

"Yeah. C'mon." Erik stood up and grabbed a slice of the pizza that was staring him in the face. "Want a bite?" He pressed the down button as Christine shook her head. Greasy food wasn't her friend at the moment. "What'd you end up having for dinner?"

"Salad. Spaghetti, by the time it got time for it, didn't sound all that great."

"I could see that being a possibility." They stepped inside the elevator once the doors squeaked open, and Erik remembered that he kept forgetting to have someone come and lube the wheels up. The squeak was getting annoying.

"Greasy food doesn't sound that good as of late. I almost threw up getting your pizza. Worth it though."

"If it helps at all, it tastes amazing."

"That does help. I'd hate knowing I nearly vomited for shit pizza." Christine smiled as he took another bite. It was just so good.

"There's no such thing in New York. If you go to Chicago though… Then yeah you'll find some shitty pizza."

"I never expected you to be in the Chicago versus New York City war." Christine quickly remembered he was a native, and she just opened up a giant can of worms.

"Who boils hot dogs? And that accent is just awful. It's like they want everything to be bland. Boiled hot dogs, enough crust to drown out the flavor of the toppings… Chicago is one place I have never been and will never go."

"You're gonna be on this one for a while aren't you?"

"Yes I am. Thank you for asking." The elevator reached the parking garage, and she was thankful since she didn't know if she could handle much more anger towards Chicago. She agreed with everything, she just was too tired to join in.

"No problem." They walked over to his car since it was the only car left besides two twenty year old cars, but Christine knew those weren't his. "So I'll see you in a few hours? Well not really. I'll be asleep hopefully."

"Yeah I'll be home once this meeting is over with. It shouldn't take long." Christine leaned up against his car, and she shook her head when Erik took a larger than normal bite of the pizza.

"You are… Something else." She patted his chest, and he smiled with his cheeks full of pizza.

"I know. You wanna know a secret about this car?"

"Hm?" She pushed her bangs out of her face, and Erik was still chewing the large bite somehow.

"My favorite memory in it was after we went and got lunch, and we fooled around in the back seat. Remember that?" Christine giggled as she nodded, and she realized what he was trying to do.

"I'm too tired, you're not going to get a hormone flare this late. Try again tomorrow."

"I'm not aiming for a flare. I'm reminiscing." He bit into the crust, and she shut her eyes and put her head back against the car.

"And I'm not pregnant. I'm going now, nice try."

"Meh." He stepped back away from her and she stood up. "Drive safe."

"I will. I'm a real speed demon. Sometimes I go five over the speed limit."

"Holy shit you daredevil." Erik took a couple steps toward the elevator as he unbuttoned his jacket, and Christine glanced down at his butt before he turned around.

"You know me… What time is it?" She watched him check his watch while taking another bite of the crust.

"One fifty one. Why?"

"When is your meeting?"

"I need to be connecting at two thirty."

"Do… You want to uhm…" She started rocking back and forth on her feet due to her nervousness, and Erik wasn't sure what she was reaching for. "Never mind." She unlocked the car and opened the front door, and Erik's hopes died as she got in the car. He sighed and turned around, but made himself dizzy and spun back around when Christine mumbled something.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing." She was embarrassed to ask. She shouldn't have been, he was the one who wanted it to happen.

"Are you sure? Because I won't be home for a few hours. Now's your time to ask me… So you don't forget I mean." Christine glared at him when she realized he knew what she was trying to ask.

"Okay asshole." She got out of the car and crossed her arms as tightly as she could. "Stop standing there, you got what you wanted."

"What?" He stuffed the last two bites in, and Christine waited for that alluring situation to come to a close.

"You got the flare." He really didn't, she just considered her options a little bit longer, and she realized she wanted to have sex with him.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah." She laughed when he ran over to her, and she was taken back when he pretty much in one motion, grabbed her face and started kissing her. Christine locked the car so Erik couldn't get in, and when he didn't stop kissing, she assumed he hadn't noticed it. One of Erik's hand moved away from her face, and when she heard him try and open the door she tried to keep a straight face.

"What-" Erik pulled away, and Christine hid the keys. "What game are you playing here?"

"I'm not playing a game. The back seat is just so crowded and I'd like to stretch my legs and keep standing."

"You mean outside the car?"

"Why not? Look around. Who will see us?" Christine looked at where Erik immediately pointed, and when it was a security camera she nearly scoffed. "You think someone is actually watching the security cameras?"

"I know for a fact they do because I checked my texts after I got in your car the night Maley destroyed my car, and the security guard text me letting me know Maley had fucked my car up while he was doing his walk through."

"Well text him and tell him not to watch." Erik sighed as he considered his options, but Christine rubbing his back wasn't helping.

"Okay fine. But only if you let me get you dinner tomorrow night."

"Deal." Christine pulled his head down, and Erik hoped to god he wasn't prone to getting camera shy. Knowing it was for just them to see was vastly different than knowing someone was potentially watching.

. x .

"I still got it." Christine walked into the room she and Erik were put in at her gyno, and she set the cup they made her pee in on the paper towel waiting for her.

"Do I want to know what you still have?" Erik took her hand as she stepped up on the step, and sat down on the exam table.

"Aim! In dorms you don't want to sit to pee. I finally learned how to pee standing up when I got tired of cleaning someone else's pee and period blood off the toilet seat."

"That's disgusting. Not the standing but the pee and period blood being left on a toilet seat frequently enough for you to justify learning how to pee standing up."

"Oh yeah, women like to gloat about being clean, but we're so gross. Like our bathrooms… Awful." Christine crossed her legs as someone knocked on the door, and when it was Mel Christine smiled.

"Hey there. How are you doing, Christine?"

"I'm doing good. This is Erik. Erik this is Mel." The two shook hands, and Christine rubbed her hands together.

"It's a pleasure. Are you two friends?"

"Yeah, but I'm also the co-creator of the reason we're here." Erik pointed towards Christine's stomach, and it all became painfully clear to Mel why Christine did what she did.

"Oh, well I see why you had sex with him." Erik felt himself blush, which was nearly a miracle, since it took quite a lot to make him bashful.

"Yes he's quite the charmer." Christine patted Erik's head, and smiled when his cheeks were red. "And amazing in bed but that had no influence on why I slept with him."

"She's telling the truth on both accounts, but it was actually my belly dance. Wins the ladies over every time." Erik rubbed his stomach as Christine giggled, and he was happy to know he still had the ability to make her laugh.

"I'm sure it's quite the view… Well anyway, so have you come to a decision? Do you want to go over your options again?" Mel sat down on her rolly chair since she had a feeling Christine was going to pick the latter. "You're still in the time frame for the pills if that's what you want to do."

Christine looked at Erik for a final confirmation, and when he squeezed her hand, she knew it was the best decision. "We're keeping it. The nurse had me pee in a cup already."

"Oh! Okay, that's great news. Well, congratulations, and let's get a blood sample. Then we'll do an ultrasound so he can see the baby, and you can in a less panicked state of mind."

"That sounds good." Mel got up and opened her blood sample kit, and she grabbed the circulation band, alcohol wipe and needle, then moved over to Christine. "So you two aren't together?"

"No. I've been in a relationship since I got out of college, I want to see who I am now before I have a baby and get caught up in someone else."

"That makes sense. So you two are planning to get together down the line then?"

"I hope so, but he could get tired of me before that happens which is likely."

"It's highly unlikely. You're like pizza to me."

Christine almost couldn't believe he compared her to pizza. He loved pizza. "You have pizza at least two times a week every week."

"And I've lived in New York for how long?"

"Oh that's intense." Christine flinched which suddenly she had a needle in her arm, and Mel was stealing blood.

"You a native?"

"Yep. I've not been in New York City my entire life, but probably twenty seven years."

"How old are you?" Mel pulled the needle out, put the cap on it and set the vile down so she could clean and bandage Christine's poke site.

"Thirty one. I'm turning thirty two in June."

"Where's your accent? You don't have one." Christine rubbed the crook of her arm once it was bandaged and tied up, and Mel turned the ultrasound computer on while looking at Erik for an explanation.

"I don't like New York accents on me, so I've trained myself not to have one. Are you native?"

"Nah. I moved here from Indiana ten years ago. That's impressive though, I wish I could get the Indiana accent out of me, but it sticks."

"It took awhile. Had it been seven years ago I would have sounded like the stereotypical New Yorker."

"Yikes." Christine didn't do New York accents, so she was glad she didn't meet Erik seven years earlier.

"What? Not a fan of New Yoak accents?" Christine was frightened when he slipped his accent on, and boy was it heavy.

"Please never do that again."

"I plan not to." Erik kissed her hand, and he ignored Christine's glare. He wanted to kiss her hand, and he wasn't going to feel guilty about it.

"Okay, lay back." The lights turned off, and Christine pulled her shirt up as she laid back as she was asked. The gel was warm unlike last time, and Christine felt her stomach jump up into her throat. For the first time Erik noticed the tiny bump Christine had, it wasn't much and he obviously hadn't caught it before, but looking closely, it was there and absolutely beautiful. Suddenly a heartbeat filled the room, and Erik's attention was pulled to the screen. He was speechless when he saw the baby on the monitor.

He took Christine's hand when she reached for his, and he looked at Christine when he heard her laugh. "It's incredible. They've gotten so much bigger. It's only been two weeks."

"Well they thrive off of how much you throw up, so they're set. They'll be fully grown in a couple months."

"God no shit." Christine looked back at Erik, and he was intently watching the monitor, and she smiled to herself knowing he managed to get even more excited over the baby after the ultrasound.

"Well the good news is, the heartbeat is strong, and they're growing nicely. The bad news is, you're throwing up a lot."

"It's only in the morning, I'll be fine. It's just first trimester nausea. If it keeps going into my second I'll be worried and talk to you about it." Christine wasn't convinced it was more than just morning sickness at that point, so she felt no need to worry about it.

"Okay if that's what you want. I'm going to write you a prescription for your prenatals today, and also I want you to take Ginger, two hundred and fifty milligrams no more than four times a day. It should help with the morning sickness."

"If it doesn't?"

"B six, twenty five milligrams, no more than three times a day. If that doesn't help then try Emetrol. It's an over the counter anti-nausea. If that doesn't work then come in because we might be dealing with something deeper."

"Let's hope one of them works. I'd hate to be sick my entire pregnancy."

"Well the ideal movie pregnancy is rare, but here's to hoping." Mel pointed at the screen when the baby started squirming around, and it immediately explained the butterfly feeling she'd been dealing with for the past week or so.

"Oh my god, that's what I've been feeling."

"Butterflies?" Christine nodded making Mel smile, and they all watched as it continued to wiggle around. "Well, I wish I could let you guys watch for longer, but I have other patients that are really bitchy if I'm not in their room immediately, so I'm gonna have to cut this short." She took the paddle off of Christine's stomach, and she looked back at Erik who went to looking at her.

"Hi." She smiled when he squeezed her hand, she blushed and looked away when he kissed her forehead. Mel held her comments in as she wiped Christine's stomach off, and once she was done she turned the lights on, and grabbed the string of photos that were printing while she was productive elsewhere.

"Okay, here you guys are. I'll see you guys next month. And your prescription will be faxed over to your preferred pharmacy."

"Sounds good. Thank you." Christine shook Mel's hand before taking the photos from her.

"It was a pleasure to meet you." Mel and Erik shook hands once again, and Christine decided to look at the photos while they conversed.

"Likewise. See you next month." Christine and Erik stood up, and her shirt fell down as she did. Christine grabbed her purse before leaving the room, and she turned to make sure Erik was behind her before walking any further.

"Let's schedule my next appointment."

"Actually, if you don't mind, can we do like all of the appointments today? So I know when to schedule meetings and potentially know if I need to reschedule any?" Erik pulled his phone out, and Christine didn't see why she would mind.

"Yeah that's perfectly fine." They walked up to the appointment counter, and Christine hoped it didn't take too long. She was hungry.


	22. Chapter 22

"Don't look at me like that." Twenty two weeks down, eighteen to go, and Christine could barely fit in her sweats already. Thankfully she wasn't gaining much more weight than the recommended amount, so it was all bump that was taking up the elastic waist. She wasn't even dreaming about wearing her old work dresses, so Erik took her out after a breakdown over her last dress no longer fitting and got her some new dresses and bras. The bras. Good lord her breasts went from zero to watermelon overnight. She was overwhelmed, but enjoying it. She learned to appreciate her moderately sized breasts after popping up to a D. There was most likely more growth to come even though she wasn't sure how much more her skin could handle.

"Like what?" Erik was home early on a Monday night miraculously, so he decided to make some dinner. Nothing fancy, just some bacon, eggs and French toast. Christine had been talking about it at work, so naturally he was quick to make it.

"Like I don't look like a land whale."

"Well you're making me looking at you impossible, because you don't look like a land whale."

"God I feel like I do." Christine rubbed her stomach as she put her feet up on the chair next to her. "This French toast by the way… Amazing. I was craving it all day."

"Yeah I heard you talking about it with Mikey, so I decided work could wait, and I came home and made some… Obviously."

"You're even more amazing than this French toast." She found being single rather boring, but she was enjoying it nonetheless. Going to bed early, being able to guiltlessly cuddle with her pillows, not having to worry about the mental upkeep of another human being… It was good. Just the social aspect was boring. It could've had something to do with her being pregnant, but she wasn't one hundred percent convinced that was the sole cause.

"Well thank you. So you'll have the place to yourself for this weekend. Remember that London meeting I had a few weeks back?"

"Yeah."

"Well I have to go and secure the deal so I'll be gone this weekend. I'm leaving Thursday and I'll be back Sunday."

"Oh fun. I'll probably just have Meg over. We'll watch movies, eat a bunch of calories and sleep more hours than we'll be awake. It'll be fun."

"That sounds fun. I just- you can go in my room if you need to, but I'd rather not have her in there since she's practically a stranger to me." Christine nodded since she never planned on going in his room, plus she knew how private he was, so she wouldn't bring strangers into his room.

"Yeah I wouldn't have taken her in there anyway… So how was your day?"

"Good. I just dealt with emails and put out a bunch of finished files. Today was relatively calm."

"That's good."

"Yeah… So I have a question. I've been meaning to ask it for about a month and a half now, I just kept forgetting."

"What's that?" She cut a bite of the French toast while looking at Erik.

"During that fight we had you said you have money, what did you mean by that?"

Christine milled over the fight, and she was able to pinpoint what he was talking about thankfully. "Oh! I forgot I said that out loud. It was kind of a secret between me and my parents lawyer… My parents left me around two point five million dollars when they died. They played around in the stock market when I was a baby and obviously came out better from it. I've not really used it since I've had to keep it a secret, or else Raoul's parents would wipe me clean in a day."

"Wow that's amazing your parents won the lottery and were able to stop themselves before losing all the money. I wish I could pull out, but I've been lucky so far and I don't want to ruin relationships I've built by selling certain stocks."

"Then get rid of the dead weight."

"Everything is making me money. I don't have dead weight. Well besides that five hundred thousand I have to give to Maley, but that's once every three years for nine years, so that's not bad." Christine was disgusted that Maley got over a million dollars from Erik for no reason. Money to keep her off the streets till she found a job? Understandable, but one point five million over nine years was just ridiculous.

"That's disgusting."

"It is." Erik picked up his glass of milk, and Christine suddenly was craving a burger, but she wasn't going to tell Erik that when he went to all the trouble to make her French toast. She'd get one for the lunch the next day… Potentially. It was her first greasy food craving since getting pregnant, so who knew how long it was going to last. When he thought about it for a little bit, he realized he was probably being rude for not inviting Christine to go to London with him. "Do… Do you want to go to London with me? It won't be very fun so that's why I didn't think you'd be interested in going, but if you don't mind I'd be happy to have your company."

"Oh I probably shouldn't. London with you can only have so many possible outcomes."

"What do you mean by that?" Erik forced himself to smile until Christine confirmed his suspicions on what she meant.

"I mean we'll probably end up sleeping together, and I'll say something stupid that I'll regret later. It just isn't a good idea."

Erik chuckled making Christine blush "But we sleep together here."

"I know but it's different here. Anyway, thank you for the invitation but I'll need to take a raincheck."

"Okay that's fine." He was relieved, since he really didn't want to have to worry about making it a good enough trip for her not to hate him. Most of his time was going to be spent in an office, not out sightseeing, which is what her first trip to London deserved to be.

. x .

That night, her pillows just weren't doing the trick, and by the time she realized they weren't, it was two in the morning. She was torn on going and bugging Erik knowing he was asleep, but she wasn't going to be anyone's friend the next day if she didn't get some sleep.

Finally, after debating on whether or not she should bug him, she decided to try and sneak in without waking him up. She went to make sure she wasn't in anything overly risque, remembered that she was wearing yoga pants and a v-neck. With her body in its current state, there was no such thing as alluring. She climbed out of bed and tried to keep her steps light, but first she went to the bathroom so she didn't have to get up once in his bed.

Once she was done, she finally made the walk across the condo to Erik's room, and she managed to squeeze through the crack. Apparently he slept with his door open for some reason. She walked over to his bed, and she barely got one knee on the bed when she saw Erik sit up. "God dammit." She took her knee off the bed as Erik yawned, and he tried figuring out if he was dreaming or not.

"Christine? What's wrong? It's two in the morning."

"I know I didn't mean to wake you up, I'm sorry. I can't sleep, my pillows aren't cutting it tonight."

"Oh, well come on." He moved the blankets back, and she crawled in next to him. Erik wasn't really sure what he was supposed to do, so he just laid there on his back. She cuddled up against him, and once her arm was stretched across his waist, and her head was in the crook of his underarm she hoped she'd stay comfortable long enough to fall asleep.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. My bed is open whenever you need it." She meant to respond, but she found comfort, and she was going on being awake eighteen hours so she was out before she could form a response.

. x .

Erik hadn't spent the night with her since the very early weeks of her pregnancy… Like before they knew she was pregnant, so when she was mumbling in her sleep through the entire night, he thought it was safe to assume it was a pregnancy thing. Annoying, but a pregnancy thing. He unsurprisingly woke up before Christine, but she hadn't moved an inch through the night so he was stuck. Not that he was complaining, but he needed to pee.

Thankfully she woke up an hour or so after him, and the minute she took her arm from around him he got out of bed. "Morning?" Christine was confused by his sudden departure, but when he went into the bathroom she understood his pain. She grabbed for the nearest pillow and put her head over it, and she was dozing off when the bathroom door opened again.

"Sorry about that, I've needed to pee for an hour."

"An hour?" Christine looked at the clock, and she was disgusted knowing he'd been awake since six. "Why the fuck are you up at six?"

"Because I'm usually at work by seven."

"I'm offended." She yawned as Erik climbed back into bed, and she figured it was time to give the man his bed back. "I guess I should move to my bed. Thanks for letting me cuddle last night." She sat up, and Erik hid his disappointment.

"Like I said last night, my bed is always open when you can't sleep."

"Thank you." She got out of the bed, and she left Erik's room. On the way back to her room she stopped in her bathroom to pee and take her ginger pill. The pills were proving to be quite effective to her relief.

"You hungry?!"

"Don't worry about me! I'm gonna get some more sleep then head into work! I'll grab something on the way!" She opened the door after washing her hands, and the usual coffee smell hit her nose.

"Okay!" She watched him rummage through the fridge for a few seconds before disappearing to her room.

. x .

"Good luck, enjoy your flight and bring me back an Erik with a British accent."

"I'll try, but no promises. If anything happens just call me, I'll have my phone on me at all times."

"I'm not even to twenty five weeks yet, I'll be good."

"Things can happen. Just humor me telling you that."

"Okay I'll humor you." Christine smiled as she hung on the door, and Erik found it even more difficult to say goodbye this time around, than it was when he went to California for a week. "Just humor me and work on that British accent while you're there."

"I said I'll try. You have the house key still, right? And the car key?"

"Yes, Erik. Would you go? You're going to miss your flight and Meg is on her way for our girls weekend. You're not a girl."

"Okay okay I'm going. Enjoy your weekend."

"You too." Christine shut the door which got Erik to grab his suitcase handle and head towards the elevator.

. x .

Christine was rummaging through the pantry when she heard a knock on the door, and when her best friend senses started to tingle she hurried over to let Meg in. She was ready for some girl time, and they hadn't seen each other since the failed attempt of a wedding.

The door swung open, and Meg looked down at Christine's stomach to see the baby bump. She wasn't disappointed when it was there, big and overly adorable. "Oh my god! You're so pregnant!" Meg went straight for the hug as Christine laughed, and when the hug was over she rubbed her stomach.

"Right? Come in, I was just grazing."

"You started the party without me? Rude. So when did Erik leave?"

"Like thirty minutes ago." Christine shut and locked the door once Meg was inside with her bags, and Meg was able to fully take in the place. Last time she was too busy being in shock over Christine sleeping with her boss. "So I have a bunch of movies, I have the pallet of a toddler right now and I sleep a lot. I think this weekend is going to be fun." Christine showed Meg their room, and Meg was impressed at how big it was.

"I can work with all of that. So are you gonna share the bed with me or are you gonna sleep in your room?"

"This is my room." Meg dropped her bag, and she was ready for an explanation. "Erik and I aren't together. I'm taking a break from being in a relationship, I've been in one since I graduated college, I want to see who I am before the baby comes."

"Oh… So no sex or dates or any of that awesome stuff?"

"Well we have sex when my hormones flare up and I get painfully turned on, but that's it and it's strictly business."

"Oh… So you're like kinda friends but kinda friends with benefits? But also parents. Nothing confusing about that."

"We don't know how to handle it either. We've gotten in a couple arguments over the situation, but nothing we can't handle." They left the room once Meg's things were situation, and they wandered over to the kitchen so Christine could continue her grazing.

"What were the fights over?"

"Well the first one I snapped because Erik for some reason thought friends didn't grab dinner together. Even though he and I had gotten dinner a bunch before we started sleeping together. The second one was because all these things I ask him to do hurt him and he doesn't understand why we can't be together since I act like I did when I was in a relationship when I was single. And I see his points, and I know that he loves me and wants to be with me, so sleeping with me and being my body pillow when my actual pillow isn't cutting it could be difficult. But I like the mental break I'm taking." Christine grabbed a jar of peanuts when her focus moved to them, and she set them on the counter so she could look at Meg.

"Well you gotta do what you gotta do. Your situation is interesting, but from the sounds of it you guys have it worked out the best you can."

"Right? Had I had it my way I would be sleeping in your guest room, not his, but he wants to be close in case anything happens so I can respect that. Plus I like living with him and being able to see him everyday."

"You guys are killing me. So, how did it work out with Raoul? Have you seen him since the church?" Meg was… Thrilled to be able to say she was at a failed wedding. It was on her bucket list.

"Yeah I saw him later that day. What happened was, I went to the apartment, packed what I needed and left. I got a hotel room and texted him and Erik. Erik and I worked it out before Raoul ever got there. Once Raoul got there I apologized and explained everything, he said he didn't care why it happened, but that it did happen… Or something like that. Anyway, Raoul and Erik said fuck you to each other and Raoul left. Haven't heard from him since." Christine grabbed a handful of peanuts, then popped a couple in her mouth.

"Wow. I called Raoul's parents cunts in the church. Now that was fun."

"Seriously?" Christine wanted to hear every detail so it felt like she was the one who said it.

"Yep! They were saying some choice words about you, and I, from the altar to where they were sitting, said very loudly, just because she wasn't as good as hiding the secret as your wife is doesn't mean you can be cunts."

"Oh my god, really?" Christine laughed, however her joy was interrupted by someone knocking on the door and the need to pee. "Boy this place is popular." Christine checked the peephole, and when it was an older man she opened the door since the "Robbed by elderly" rates were quite low in New York City. "Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi there, I'm looking for Erik Dessin, is he here?"

"Oh… Actually there's no one here by that name anymore. He moved out a few weeks back, but if I could get your name and number I could forward it to him, and get him to call you guys." Christine found it odd Erik had a pad and paper by the door, but she grabbed it anyway and handed it to the man

"Thank you for this. I've spent a long time looking for him, and congratulations on the baby. New home for the family?"

"Oh thank you. Well y'know. Me and my girlfriend were really excited when the implant worked, so we hurried and bought the first house we could find that wasn't too expensive." Christine took the paper from the man, and they smiled when Meg waved at them. "Anyway, I'm really sorry you missed him, and I'll be sure to get this right over to him. I just need to call our agent so I can get his agent's number, then his agent can get me his number, so knowing real estate agents, it'll probably be a week before I get his number."

"Okay that's fine. Thank you very much."

"Of course. Have a good day." Christine smiled and shut the door, and she set the paper down where she found it.

"So my lesbian lover, what was all that about?"

"I don't know how Erik handles people asking for him so I'll just give him the number when he gets back."

"Oh that makes sense. I forgot he's filthy rich." Meg got up from the bar and walked over to the fridge, and she grabbed one of the beers sitting in there. "Let's get this weekend started!" Meg lifted her beer in the air and waited for Christine to find something, and she snorted when Christine opted for the peanut jar. "Woooo!"

They clinked items, and they went into the living room to start on the movies.


	23. Chapter 23

Christine woke up Sunday afternoon to her phone buzzing in between her breasts, so she forced herself to wake up and grab it. She unlocked the phone so she could read the texts from Erik, and she was pretty sure he was drunk. "Meg." Christine stuck her finger up Meg's nose which got the job done.

"What the hell do you want?" Meg wasn't much of a morning person… Or an afternoon person.

"Erik just text me telling me to get my ass ready. Does he mean to go out or in another way?"

"What else does he say?"

"It just says get your ass ready because I'm coming in hot."

"Ha!" Meg snorted before she could start laughing, and she was partially convinced the man was drunk. "That's fucking hilarious, and I'd say he wants to fuck the shit out of you. Like don't get ready. Do the opposite. Get naked. If not, have sex anyway and play it off as a welcome home present."

"You're here though."

"I can sleep through anything don't worry about me." Christine rolled her eyes and got out of bed. She text back asking his ETA, and when it was only five minutes she panicked.

"Get! He's almost here and as tmi as this is, I've been super turned on all weekend so go!" Christine grabbed Meg's backpack, stuffed the loose items into it and hurried out to the front door with it.

"I'm in my pajamas!"

"I don't care now scoot. Take a cab I'll give you the money." Christine opened the door, and Meg shook her head as she grabbed her bag and left the condo.

"Sisters before… Penis'."

"Unless one of the sisters is pregnant. Then penis' have rank over sisters. Bye love you! Thanks for the fun weekend." Christine shut the door and hurried to the bathroom so she could pull herself together. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and peed, then she stripped her pajamas leaving her in just her panties.

Just as the door opened she got in his line of sight, and when he wasn't drunk she was surprised. "You get your ass over here." Erik walked up to her, and she squeaked when he grabbed her butt and started kissing her. He was wasting no time. He was high on adrenaline and he wanted to celebrate. "I'm so fucking excited come here." Erik picked her up, and she bit her lip when he took the walk his bed as time to bite her neck.

"You're not drunk."

"No I'm excited though. You will not believe what happened Friday." He set her down on the bed and gave her a short kiss before unbuttoning his jacket.

"What happened Friday?" She grabbed his belt and undid it so she could get his pants down.

"I made ninety fucking million dollars! I've never made that much in a year let alone a day!"

"What? Are you kidding me?" Christine wanted to puke that was so much money!

"No! I've been in the process of selling my stocks for this company and it finally fucking went through and I've been on cloud nine since Friday." He yanked her panties down, and he pulled his shirt off as she kicked the panties to the side. "And I know the arrangement is only when you're painfully turned on but I think we can make an acception."

"Just one exception, but I'm painfully turned on so this doesn't count." Erik smiled as he moved up and kissed her, and Christine squealed she was so excited.

. x .

"So did you and Meg have a fun weekend?" Erik sat down next to Christine on the couch, and she nodded.

"Yeah. She and I just watched movies and slept. Nothing too insane but we had fun."

"That's good. It was a good thing you didn't come because I barely needed a hotel I was in that damned conference room so much." Erik stole a handful of her popcorn, and she allowed it since he was cute.

"That's awful. I would've gone stir crazy had I been you… so I think I felt them kick last night. Not butterfly kick, but up against my stomach kick."

"Really? That's exciting. I mean they're getting bigger so it makes sense, but still. That raises the question or where are we going to put the nursery? I was thinking about finding a bigger place, but then I remembered you in the guest room might be temporary so… What do you think?" Erik sighed as he watched Christine slowly play with the popcorn.

"If we can fit in this condo I don't see the point of moving. I can always sleep on the couch."

"I'm not going to let you sleep on the couch. I guess my office could be made into the nursery, then once you decide you're bored of being single I can make the guest room into another office."

"That's not a bad idea."

"Or we can move."

"The office works." Christine didn't want to move. One, it was too much work. Two, they had all the space they needed where they were at.

"Okay. I'll get it emptied out in the next couple of weeks. I can't imagine you'll want to do anything till we find out the gender."

"Yeah that makes the most sense. If I had it my way the room would be a nice green."

"Is there such thing as a nice green?" Erik found it difficult to believe that there was. Green was an okay color, not all that aesthetically pleasing though.

"I mean… we could probably find one." He shot her the "who are you trying to fool" look, and Christine knew he was right. "Okay never mind. No green nursery. Now, I'm just throwing this out there, but I really like the name Blake."

"For a boy?"

"For both." Christine grabbed another handful of popcorn, and popped a piece in her mouth. "If it's dumb then just tell me."

"No… It's not dumb. I like it." He never really thought names, so mostly everything was a good name to him. He did genuinely like Blake. It was going on a list they probably would form sooner or later. "It's definitely one to consider." Erik suddenly remembered the gift he got Christine, so he got up from the couch and left for his room leaving Christine to wonder where he went. Thankfully she didn't have to put much effort into asking, because he was back after only a minute. "So I got you something."

"Yeah? Why'd you get me something?" She smiled when he ignored her poke.

"Because you're my friend and I wanted to get you something." Erik handed her the box, and she continued to smile and poked a hole in the wrapping paper as he sat back down.

"It better not have been expensive."

"Just let me worry about that." She sighed and shook her head all while ripping the wrapping paper off. "If you don't like it then that's fine, I just saw it and thought of you."

"I'm sure I'll love it." She pulled the lid off the box, and she smiled when it was an older looking leather case. "It's awesome."

"Look inside it, Butthead." With that, Christine noticed it was able to be opened, so she pulled the lid up revealing a pair of sapphire drop earrings, and the sapphires were surrounded by diamonds.

"Erik no."

"Erik yes. They're really cool. They're from the Georgian age, so like the seventeen hundreds to mid-eighteen hundreds."

"Really?" Christine touched the earrings, and she smiled, but then realized they probably cost an arm and a leg. "I can't take these."

"Why?"

"They probably cost a fortune and I can't let you spend that on me." Christine shut the case, and Erik sat on his hands so she couldn't hand them to him.

"I don't care about the price. I spent the money knowing the price so please accept the gift."

She knew he was going to fight her on who was keeping them, and at that moment she was too tired to argue. "Okay fine. Thank you. They're truly stunning."

"You're welcome, and I'm glad you like them. I won't be offended if you never wear them, I'd be unsure about sticking two hundred year old earrings in my ears if I had holes in them. They just reminded me of your eyes so I needed to get them."

"Oh my god, Erik." She smiled to help hide her blush, but Erik couldn't figure out what he did to get that reaction.

"What?"

"You can't say that. We're friends."

"What? The sticking them in ear holes if I had them? I mean I knew that was close to the line, but I didn't think you'd have a problem with it."

Christine giggled as she set the box on the coffee table, and she tried not to look at Erik when he was looking at her the way he did. "Keep it up and I'm gonna lock you in your room."

"Will you be in the room with me? If so please do."

"Erik." She enjoyed flirty Erik, but she needed to keep the line clear everywhere but when they were having sex.

"Okay I'm sorry. I'm still kind of excited about the money I made Friday so I'm cocky."

"It's okay." She tossed a piece of popcorn in her mouth, and she turned her attention back to the TV. All while Erik continued shaking his foot and staring at her.

. x .

The bigger the baby got, the less her office chair was working. It hurt her back and her butt, and she needed a non-leaning back option which her chair lacked.

To her relief, at twenty five weeks she walked into her office, to Erik putting together a new chair. "What's this? Don't you have people who can do that for you?"

"But where's the fun in that?"

"I guess you have a point. You know you're looking an awful like the father of my child right now, and my office lacks non-transparent walls. People can see."

"So? Don't people know by now that it's mine?"

"No one does besides Jackie and Alicia. No one else has asked. No one cares, which is perfectly alright, but now the boss of the company was in the pregnant chicks office putting a chair together. That makes her interesting." She set her hand on her stomach as she felt a light jab against her stomach.

"Oh… Sorry. I made you interestinger."

"Interestinger?" Christine wasn't even going to pick at that one.

"Well yeah. You're already interesting, add me being the father of the baby on top of it adds for juicy break room drama."

"Never say juicy again." That word was like nails on chalkboard to her.

"Oh fine." He huffed and dropped down onto his ass, and Christine giggled and walked over to him. "Don't get down."

"I'm not stupid. I was just coming over to say hi."

"Oh… Hi. I can see up your skirt."

"I know." She eyed the new black leather chair that was soon to be hers, and she tried figuring out what possessed Erik to get her a new chair.

"It's like memory foam and all this shit chairs probably should be since humans sit for too damned long now a days. Plus it leans back."

"Can it not lean back? What made you get me a new chair anyway?"

"The chairs you guys have I'll admit… Aren't the most comfortable, and I've been meaning to get everyone new chairs, but I haven't had the time, but you're pregnant so I ran to an office supply store and got you one during lunch."

"That's a lot of running. Isn't the closest one like four or five blocks away?" Christine thought she was being funny in the moment, but once the joke left her mouth, she wanted it back. "Oh my god the lame parent humor is already kicking in." She went and sat down in one of the chairs at the front side of her desk, and Erik went back to screwing in a screw.

"Don't worry, I told a dad joke yesterday, and I learned who had kids in the room and who didn't by who laughed."

"Good lord."

"Yeah I know." Christine kicked the bolt he was reaching for into his reach, and she smiled when he thanked her.

"I do my best to help. I'm gonna go pee while you finish this. That tea went right through me." She pushed herself up from the chair which proved far more difficult than she originally planned.

"Enjoy your pee."

"I will." She left her office, and it didn't take her long to notice the glances.


	24. Chapter 24

True to his word, Erik had his office emptied a week before Christine's next appointment, which also was the appointment that finding out the sex became a possibility.

The fairytale land of cute pregnancy ended not far into her twenty fourth week, when they swapped the movie weekends for reading pregnancy books, and looking on the Internet for good baby names. Her swollen ankles turned into swollen everything, and her sore back just got worse. She also got a hemorrhoid. She knew it was natural, but hemorrhoid just sounded so dirty so she was pretty embarrassed about it. She was hoping she'd be able to avoid Erik finding out about it, but when she was taking an upwards of three to four baths a day, he got understandably curious. To her delight she lasted a week before he felt the need to press the issue.

"So," Erik sat down in front of the bathtub, then rest his cheek on his hand. "what's up with your big fuck you to the environment, and burning need to take an unusually high amount of baths every day?"

"I… Have a health condition that they say warm baths help with."

"Ah. And what is that health condition? Are you alright?" Erik dipped his finger in the water, and he started drawing circles.

"I have a rectum issue."

"Too many anal orgys? You can't lie to me, I know you go out once I'm asleep and raise hell." Christine flicked some water at him, and he laughed while wiping the water off his face.

"Shithead. If you must know… It's a hemorrhoid. It's gross and I hate that you know about it."

"Why? That's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm honestly disappointed, I was expecting something big. Is that why you've been insisting on a blanket and the lights off when we've have sex lately?"

"Yeah. The word just sounds so dirty."

"It does sound like a dirty word, but it's just a hemorrhoid. I remember reading in a book that it should go away once you give birth… Then you'll probably get another one because they're one of the most common post delivery complaints doctors get."

"Oh joy. It's really annoying." Christine wasn't sure how long she was going to be able to last with the stupid thing.

"I'll massage it for you." Erik chuckled when Christine didn't hesitate a single second to shake her head. "No? No rectum massage today?"

"Or any day. Maybe once the baby is here and I'm drunk. I seem to be interested in having things in my butt when I'm drunk."

"Super interested." She giggled as she rubbed her stomach, and Erik remembered the other reason he went into the bathroom. "So the other reason I came in here was to see how you felt about joining me for dinner tonight. I have a business dinner, and I figure you want to get out of the house for besides work."

"That has potential to be fun. Sounds like I have to redo my hair and makeup though, which doesn't sound fun." She looked up towards her hair which was slightly wet and up in a messy high bun to save it from the water.

"It's fine if you'd rather stay here and relax. I just wanted to give you the offer to get out of the house if you want to."

"I'll think about it. When do you need to leave?"

"Seven thirty." Christine almost didn't want to go. That was half an hour before her newly discovered bedtime.

"Sounds good. I'll be ready to go by then. If I'm not I'm not going. I might not get out of here till eight."

"I think you getting out while I'm here to help is a good idea."

She sighed as she pursed her lips, and finally after considering her ability to get up, she nodded. "Good point. I'll be out soon then."

"Okay. Just yell for me, I'm gonna clean the dishes." Christine nodded and Erik stood up, and once he was out of the bathroom she moved onto her side. Her back was hurting, and so was her butt.

. x .

Christine had fallen asleep watching a movie on the couch, so Erik was glad he didn't make a lot of noise coming into the house. He would've hated to wake her up. He pulled his jacket off and tossed it on the table, then walked over to the couch as the light of the movie flickered against the walls and furniture in room. He slowly lifted her up in attempt not to wake her, and he almost got her in bed and covered up without waking her up, but she started to stir as he set her down on her bed. "Erik?" She cracked her eyes open, and he smiled and rubbed her cheek.

"Yeah. You fell asleep on the couch so I was just moving you into your bed."

"Oh… Did you have a good dinner?"

"It was good. Go back to sleep, I'll talk to in the morning okay?"

"Okay." She didn't need much push to get more sleep. "Good night."

"Good night." Erik pulled the blankets up to her waist, then stood up and backed out of the room. He shook his head when he saw her outline breathing slow.

. x .

"Oh my god I'm so nervous." Christine wasn't sure why she was freaking out over the idea of learning the baby's gender, but she was.

"Really? I thought you'd be excited."

"I'm excited too, but I'm nervous. What if she can't find it? What if it doesn't have genitals? What if it's a girl? Oh god teenage girls are hard. Puberty kicks in and it goes downhill from there. It goes from daddy, to shithead. It goes from I love you to I hope you guys die in a fire."

"Isn't that with boys too?" Erik couldn't base anything from his memories, he was just angry all the time, but with a mom like the one he had… It was easy to be mad.

"I mean sorta but not as much. They're hormonal but you don't have the period. You guys just wanna hump everything in sight."

"Good point." Erik sighed as he felt his phone buzz, but he ignored it since he didn't want to seem like he was working during the appointment.

"Oh my god did I tell you?"

"Probably not."

Christine turned so she could face him. "Okay so this older guy came to the door when you went to London that weekend, and they were looking for you. I told them you didn't live there anymore because you sold it to me and my girlfriend. So I got their number, but I completely forgot up until right now.

"Older guy? Did he say what he wanted?"

"No. He was just looking for you. You should call them and see what they wanted. I have the number still." Erik knew Christine was gonna push that one until he did, so he didn't waste much time agreeing with her.

"I will tomorrow. Where's the number?"

"On the note pad on the coffee table by the door."

"That actually came in handy? Awesome."

"Yeah. The guy-" she was cut off by a light knock on the door before Mel walked in, and she smiled at the two.

"Hey there you guys. How are you doing?"

"Good and you?" Christine noticed Mel's hair was a lot more done than usual, and it was blonde instead of brown, then her makeup was a lot heavier than usual.

"I'm doing great. You're my last patient for a few hours so I'm just almost able to go and be with my husband."

"Date afternoon?"

"Anniversary. We do lunch, then I go back to work, he gets the kid ready for grandmas and I come home early and we spend the night in."

"That sounds like a nice day." Christine tried to move back to facing forward without messing the paper up, but she finally had to get down, fix the paper then get back up onto the table.

"It is. So we've done all the tests you need for now, but you're coming up on your third trimester which brings along more tests. So today really is just addressing any concerns, questions and seeing how the baby is growing."

"That sounds good to me. I'm excited not to be stabbed with a needle today." Christine rolled her shirt up and moved her skirt down out of the way, then laid back on the table. The lights shut off, and Christine sighed as the ultrasound goo was squirted into her stomach.

"So how's the movement? Are they starting to move around?"

"Yeah. They're kickin' and squirming around. Not all day and night yet thankfully."

"Okay. How's your nausea? I'm hoping something worked because you never mentioned it again."

"It's gone. Now it's heartburn."

"That's sadly normal. Tums are your friend. So what I'm going to do is give you a list of pediatricians that I personally recommend, and you guys need to start interviewing. If you don't like them you won't want to take your child there y'know? So that's something to start doing. Do you guys want to know the sex?" Mel tried to pay attention to Christine and Erik, but she was trying to focus on finding the baby's genitalia if the answer was yes.

"Yes." Christine looked back at Erik, and he was just smiling and watching the monitor as Mel did her doctor stuff. Christine wished she understood it all. "Okay, just let me finish something then I'll try and see." Christine laid there and listened to the heartbeat, but also to Mel hum. "His growth is right on track. He's on track to being a strapping young man no doubt."

"It's a boy?" Christine tried to keep her calm in case she heard wrong.

"Yep! He's got testicles and a penis. I'll safely assume it's a boy."

She was smiling from ear to ear, and she reached back and grabbed Erik's hand. "We're having a boy!"

"I know that's amazing. I thought it was going to be a girl to be honest."

"Right? I thought so too but it's a little boy! Oh I'm so excited." She held Erik's hand up against her cheek, and she fell even more in love with the little human in her tummy. "Let's go shopping after this."

"If you want to." He was fine shopping whenever, and he didn't have anything pressing for the day, so it wasn't a bad day to do it.

"I do. We'll grab lunch then go baby shopping." She kissed his hand, and Erik did his best not to be phased by it.

"Sounds like a perfect day to me." Christine smiled as she squeezed his hand, and she looked back at the monitor as Mel continued looking around.

"He's got nice long legs to kick you with." Christine stuck her tongue out at Mel making Mel laugh, and she laughed before taking the paddle off. "So like I said, he's growing at a great rate. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes a few weeks before the estimated due date, but babies decide all that so I can't do much besides make an educated guess. Do you have any questions?"

"I do." Christine almost forgot her rectal problem. She wasn't sure how she managed that one. "So I've been blessed with a hemorrhoid. What can I do to help with the discomfort?"

"Oh! Well those are fun. Can I take a look at it?" Christine nodded, and she pulled her skirt up after wiping her stomach off. She moved her panties to the side, and she tried not to let her dignity die. "Okay so it's not that big which is good. Basically what happens is the increased blood flow causes the hemorrhoid. They're actually swollen varicose veins… So you're safe to use some ointment, take warm baths, use the medicated pads and if you have to sit, get a doughnut and take breaks every ten to fifteen minutes. Lay on your side when you can… And hopefully it'll go away soon, but most of the ones I've seen stick around till labor. Does it hurt or itch?"

"It can sting and itch a little but it's nothing awful."

"What do they look like?" Erik wanted to see, he was curious! He'd personally never gotten any. Christine grabbed him by his shirt collar stopping him from looking. He wasn't seeing her butthole till she had absolutely no choice.

"Look it up, because you're not seeing mine." She let go of him when he went to lean back, and Erik sighed. He didn't want to look at strangers hemorrhoids.

"That's weird though. I don't want to look at some random person's butt hole. For all I know they got it from pushing a cup of semen out and it's a pornstars ass."

"Okay that's gross." Christine felt her not missed friend, nausea, return, and she shut her eyes. "Fine, but for ten seconds and no less."

Erik got up and moved around to the front, and Mel had to point at it for him to notice it. "Wow. That's underwhelming. It looks like you shaved and irritated a pore, but on your butt. It's not even as big as a pencil eraser."

"I feel like that's an accurate description." Mel couldn't have described it better herself.

"It looked worse than that two weeks ago, so my constant bathing and not sitting on my butt must be helping."

"Oh really? That's good to know, so it's definitely getting better. So keep doing what you're doing and use an ointment and some medicated pads if you want to." Mel understood Christine's… embarrassment, by hopes she'd get over it. Hemorrhoids weren't anything to be embarrassed of, especially when pregnant.

"Okay. I can do that. Can I put my panties back now? I feel like I'm an exhibit at a science museum."

"Yeah you can put them down." Christine sighed in relief and let her panties go, and Erik felt like he just went and saw a raved about blockbuster movie that he ended up falling asleep in. "Any other questions or concerns?"

"I'm good." Christine sat up, and she looked at Erik to see if he had any.

"Nah I'm just along for the ride. Most of my stuff is figuring it out as it comes along."

"Okay then, well I'll let you two get to lunch so you can start shopping, here's your new pictures," Mel gave Christine the ultrasound photos which had a couple of his feet which were adorable. "and I'll see you guys next month."

"Bye, thanks for the hemorrhoid assistance."

"Oh you're welcome." Mel pulled her gloves off, and she tossed them in the trash before gathering her things and leaving the room.

Christine got off the table and started on adjusting her skirt and shirt so they were back where they needed to be. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"

"Uh… How do you feel about Italian?" Erik stood while grabbing Christine's purse, and her mouth watered at the idea of some eggplant parmesan.

"I feel warm and cozy on the inside about Italian. You know any good places for some eggplant parmesan?"

"I do actually." Erik waited for her to finish fiddling with her clothes to do anything, and once she was done they left the room. Christine was ready for some amazing Italian food and baby shopping.


	25. Chapter 25

Christine honestly hadn't been planning to do a ton of shopping, but one onesie led to another and they left with a crib, changing table, play pen and basically anything and everything a baby needs. "Jesus Christ you almost need a job like I have to have a kid." Erik was skimming through the receipt, and he was just amazed such tiny people manage to cost so much.

"How much did we spend?"

"Minus your bras and butt stuff, like twenty five hundred."

"That's not awful. We have all his furniture, enough clothes to get us through a week with no laundry being done, diapers, pumps, bottles, and ejmore but the baby stuff is starting to blend together."

"Good I'm not the only one having that problem." Erik had seen enough onesies with animals on the butt to last him many… many years. "So what color do you want to paint the room?"

"I'm thinking blue. It's calm and simple." Christine unlocked the car, and opened the trunk for Erik who was carrying most of the bags. In her defense, he wouldn't let her carry more than four in total.

"That works for me. When do you want to pick paint out?"

"How about tomorrow, then over the weekend we get the room put together? Before we know it he's going to be here, so it's better to get it done sooner rather than later."

"No that works for me. After work or during lunch?" Erik set his bags in the trunk, and sighed in relief. He was getting out of shape.

"After work. God only knows how long it'll take to get a color picked." Christine shut the trunk then gave Erik the keys, and she walked around to the passenger side to get in.

"You have an excellent point." She slowly lowered herself in, and Erik watched since she was still refusing help. "You should start letting me help you one day before you hurt yourself."

"I'm fine." He shook his head, and Christine sighed and put her head back against the seat once she was in. "See. I'm still able to sit down by myself."

"You're pregnant, accept the help or potentially hurt you and the baby. I'd prefer you not hurt yourself or him if it can be avoided."

"I'll think about it. Let's go home my feet and back are killing me." She put her seatbelt on, and Erik shook his head while putting the car in reverse.

. x .

"Don't do it." Christine could feel Erik trying his hardest not to roll paint on her back. Must of been a new mom skill. She wasn't sure, but she liked having it.

"Do what?" He put his roller back in the paint tray before she turned around, and when she glanced back at him he smiled.

"You know what." She bent over and rolled more paint onto her's, and just as she stood up, she felt Erik's roller go over her butt. She gasped and turned with her roller in hand, which flicked paint across the flooring. "Erik!"

"What?" He snickered, and he moved back when she tried painting his shirt. "I was just painting! You can't blame me for that."

"Yes I can!" They both laughed when she got his neck as he got her arm, and she went for another swipe when he grabbed her arm and pulled her up to him. He bent down and kissed her, and she went to cup his cheek, but stopped when she remembered they weren't supposed to be doing that. "Erik, friends."

"I'm claiming my one exception you promised me." Erik moved her back up to the wall, and he dropped his roller onto the floor so he could grab her hips. She shut her eyes when his lips claimed hers, and she sighed at how comfortable she felt in his arms.r

"You are getting paint everywhere."

"I'll replace the flooring. I don't care." She smiled as he took a break from the kiss, and she decided she'd allow the exception.

"If we're going to have sex I want to do it on a bed to give my feet a break." Erik picked her up, and she giggled as he nibbled at her neck. She was going to have to allow for exceptions more often.

. x .

Thirty weeks, and kicking was beginning to really disrupt her sleep which wasn't fun for anyone. "Hey, can I get today off? I didn't sleep very well because he was kicking all night." Christine walked up to Erik, who was cooking them breakfast.

"Of course. I'm sorry you didn't sleep well."

"Thank you, and it's okay. He's probably sleeping right now since he's not kicking anymore. I guess keeping me up really pooped him out." Erik chuckled at her irritation, and she sat down at the bar while considering if breakfast was even worth risking the kid waking up before she could take a nap.

Ffffkkgptt

"That's how it goes. Go take a nap, breakfast will be here when you wake up."

"You sure?" She wasn't sure how he knew what she was thinking almost all the time.

"Yeah I'm super sure the breakfast won't grow legs and run away before you wake up."

"Smartass." She stood up from the bar and yawned. "Wake me up before you leave."

"Okay. I'll see you in a little while."

"See ya." Christine walked down the bedroom for a good nap.

. x .

"Erik." Christine woke up that night to pee, and something felt wrong. She hadn't felt a single kick all day, and she hated to be that parent, but she wanted to go to the emergency room and make sure he was okay. She shook Erik's shoulder when just calling his name didn't cut it, and he finally sat up like he was rising from a coffin. "Wake up, something's wrong."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Erik did his best to wake up but he was just exhausted.

"He hasn't kicked at all since last night. I need to go to the ER and make sure he's okay or I won't sleep at all until my next appointment."

"Okay let me get dressed." He kicked the covers back and climbed out of bed, and she sat down and started stress balling his comforter. "You're sure he hasn't kicked? You did sleep some, right?"

"Maybe half an hour, but I don't think he selectively picked to kick during the half hour I was asleep, and light enough to not wake me up. Just trust me on this."

"I am I'm just keeping you talking so you don't get too stressed out." He sat down next to her with his socks and shoes, and had it been different circumstances she would've enjoyed that he was in jeans, but she was working on not throwing up so it was pretty irrelevant, sadly. Erik stood up when his shoes were on, and he grabbed his phone off his charger, then his wallet and keys off his dresser. "Come on, let's get going." Erik offered her his hand, and once she was up she didn't let go. "Hey it'll be okay. He's okay and you're okay, don't get too stressed out." He put his arm around her shoulder as they left the room and went towards the front door.

"You don't know if we're okay. I appreciate it but this is one thing I won't feel any reassurance until I get an ultrasound and there's a heartbeat." She laid her head against his side as they walked down the hallway, and when they got to the elevator she pressed the button so Erik's didn't have to move his arms.

. x .

She held onto his hand the entire drive, and once the were sitting down in the sitting room she still didn't let go. "Have you felt him kick since we've gotten here?"

"No. Nothing." She rubbed her stomach, and even Erik was starting to grow nervous.

"Christine Daae?" She and Erik looked over at the nurse who was looking for her, and they stood up and walked over to the nurse. "You're Christine?"

"Yeah."

"Okay so if you'll follow me we'll go back and see what's going on. You haven't felt your baby kick for about a day now?"

"That's right. I hate to seem like that mom, but I'm just really worried. He's usually really kicky."

"It's alright, the first door on the right, please." Christine was glad she got a nice older woman and not a bitchy older woman. She couldn't handle bitchy. Christine realized it was the room where she was weighed and they got all her vitals, she gave Erik her purse. "Step on the scale." Christine did as she asked, and when the number popped up to one twenty three, she was ready to celebrate! She'd was trying to gain weight, so the baby was helping her out tremendously. "Okay you're one twenty three, and you're-" the nurse raised the Measuring Stick o' Doom as Christine liked to call it, and she almost got excited when there was another inch than usual, but remembered her shoes had a little height to them. "And you're at five foot three. Step down and I'll take you to a room."

They left the vitals room, and they stopped at an empty bed where Christine happily sat down. Her back was really starting to hurt from the awful chairs in the waiting room. But she was met with disappointment when it felt like a cardboard covered in a bed sheet. "Nothing is comfortable in this hospital. Absolutely nothing."

"We could use some updates, but the hospital's main backer is thinking about pulling funding, so we can't do much until the smoke clears. I'll be back, I'm going to go grab an ultrasound cart." The woman shut the curtain, and Christine found Erik's hand. She was so close to finding out what was going on, but she didn't want to at the same time. There was a chance something was wrong, and she wasn't sure if she could mentally handle it. The curtain moved back, and she felt her stomach jump up into her throat. "Okay here we go." The woman made sure the curtain was completely closed before moving next to Christine.

"Erik I'm scared." Her chest felt like it was just punched with a brass knuckle, the stress cramps were indescribable and she could barely breathe.

"I know, but I'm here no matter what happens." He kissed her, he figured it wasn't the time or place to just be a friend. "I love you."

"I love you too." She shut her eyes as her shirt was rolled up, and she squeezed Erik's hand as the usual goo was squeezed onto her stomach, and the next ten seconds felt like it happened in slow motion. The paddle was pressed against her stomach, and when no sound came, she hoped at first the volume wasn't up or there wasn't any volume on theirs. "Do you guys have volume?"

"Uh yes."

"Is it up?"

There was a pause, followed by the word she didn't want to hear, and apparently the nurse didn't want to say it. The woman was quiet enough to not wake a sleeping baby. "Yes. This is an ultrasound and Doppler. There isn't any movement." Christine opened her eyes, and her eyes swelled up when she looked at the monitor and she wasn't lying. No heartbeat, no squirming or kicking… He was just there. "I'm so sorry."

"Oh god." She choked on her tears as she covered her mouth, and she couldn't stop looking at the monitor. "Why? Why is he? What did I do?" She felt herself starting to hyperventilate from gasping between the sobs, and Erik put his face against her shoulder. Mostly to help comfort her, he was just numb so he figured he'd be most helpful comforting.

"It's almost impossible to say with situations like these. How far along are you?"

"Almost thirty one weeks." She wiped her cheeks despite new tears replacing the ones that were wiped away, and she held onto Erik's head as he kissed the side of her neck.

"Okay. I'll leave you two alone for a little while to process, but after that we need to get you into a room upstairs, and I'm going to call your doctor. What's the name of the Doctor who was going to deliver him?"

"Melany Hemms. Why am I being put in a room upstairs?" Christine glanced back at the monitor and hiccuped.

"Because he needs to be delivered. You'll be induced, and you'll give birth to him. You'll get to hold him if you want to, we'll get pictures and then we'll take him, and take care of him from there."

"I have to push him out? Like you guys can't just cut him out?" She didn't want to lay in an uncomfortable bed knowing she was pushing out a dead baby.

"Unless it's extreme circumstances they usually don't do that." The nurse took the paddle off, wiped off then handed Christine a paper towel. "I'll get ahold of Melany and get her over here." The nurse took the cart and left the curtained off room, and Christine finally started ugly crying. She cried out as if someone had just murdered Erik in front of her, and Erik wrapped his free arm around her chest.

"I'm so sorry, Christine." He felt himself tearing up, and she grabbed his shirt as she started shaking. "We'll get through this, and once we do I'm taking you somewhere where we can just mourn, regroup and just take a deep breath."

"I fucked up so badly and I don't even know what I did." She grabbed the back of his neck, and Erik moved so he could sit down on the bed next to her, and he sniffed before hugging her. He couldn't say anything to make her feel better, so all he could do was hug her. "I'm a horrible mom, he knew it and he escaped me before he had to deal with me."

"Are you suggesting our unborn child killed himself because of his ability to see the future?" Erik wiped her cheeks off with his thumbs, and she nodded despite knowing how insane it sounded. "I'll just let you hold onto it for a few hours, but after that we're gonna need to recognize how insane that sounds."

"I know it's insane but what else makes sense? He was fine and now he's gone." She tried to stop crying when her throat was starting to hurt, but it became obvious that wasn't happening anytime soon very quickly.

"That it just happened. Things happen, but I don't think he killed himself to get away from you. We'll ask Mel when she gets here though."

Christine didn't feel like talking anymore, she said enough, she just wanted to cry and hug Erik.

. x .

She cried for a solid hour, including the trip up to a room on the maternity ward. It was just so disheartening knowing she was so close to having him, and maybe he could've been fine, but he passed away before she could. After an hour of crying, she stopped when she fell asleep while being held by Erik. His hand found a spot on her stomach, and he laid there as she cried and slept, just hoping to feel a kick of wiggle, but nothing ever happened.

Christine woke up when Mel came into the room, and she was carrying a card. "It's four am so this is all I could get. I'll get something better in the morning." She held the card out, and Christine showed no interest in taking it, so Erik thanked her before taking it.

"Christine, read the card." He opened the envelope, then set the card in front of Christine.

"I just want to go home and cry in private." She opened the card, and as she expected, she didn't feel any better. "Thank you, Mel."

"You're welcome. So the doctor on call has updated me on what's happening, and he induced you, and you've got the morphine to help with the contractions since we don't… Have to worry about the baby. Anyway, your vitals are good, and I ran blood tests and I'm not seeing anything that would point it towards it being something because of you. Obviously with situations like this, it's almost always impossible to tell, but there's exceptions. I hope we can find out to help bring you two some closure, but I can't promise anything. How are you two doing?"

"I'm really tired." Christine was numb, emotionally and physically. She loved morphine.

"Well I'd get some sleep, it'll make pushing easier. I'll be back in a little while to see where you're at, but until then take a nap, Erik you too. You both need it." Mel set her hand on Christine's ankle, squeezed, then left them alone to do whatever. She had a feeling Christine was going to sleep since she couldn't move.

"See, it wasn't you." Erik moved her bangs out of her face.

"Hmm." He realized she was way too high to do much besides sleep or lay there, which she probably meant to do. He couldn't blame her, he was starting to feel the pain the longer it was reality. Their family was ripped away from them, and he wasn't able to fix it or make it better. Helplessness wasn't something he liked to feel. "This is what I get for originally thinking about aborting him." Christine sounded like a drunk idiot, and she was struggling to stay awake, but it was worth it.

"I don't think that caused this either."

"Whatever. I'm sleeping." She let her eyes shut as they rolled to the back of her head. Erik started rubbing her stomach gently, and he couldn't decide if he wanted to sleep or not.

. x .

Christine woke up, and every single time she did she was hoping it'd all been a bad dream. But every time she woke up, she was in the damned hospital. Her eyes still puffy, and Erik laying behind her, his arm wrapped around her still. She grabbed for the morphine controller, and she lowered the amount she was getting since she needed to be functioning for a little while. "Erik." She put her hand on top of his, and she felt his breathing quicken.

"Hm?"

"I'm so sorry… How are you doing?"

"And I'm sorry. We both lost our son, but I'm okay. I've had better days… Don't think I've had worse honestly."

"Maybe the day my parents died was worse than this, but like not by much. This is probably worse though." She wiped at her eyes before she could start crying. "Much worse actually."

"I can imagine." He was going to miss rubbing her stomach. "Let's think of a name. He deserves a name."

"Yeah he does." She was grateful she had somewhat of a distraction so she didn't lose it again. "How about Alexander? It means defender of men… And who knows maybe he'll be our guardian angel." Erik was taken back when Christine was talking religious ideas.

"I thought you don't believe in religion, but either way that name is perfect." He liked the name, and ultimately if it brought her comfort that's what mattered.

"I don't, but I can hope he's not just gone, y'know? Like he's somewhere happy and we'll get to meet him one day." Her throat tightened, and Christine put her face in the pillow to work on gathering herself. Erik held her closer when her body shook from a sob, and it quickly became apparent to her that she wasn't gathering herself. No it was quite the opposite, she became a sobbing mess instantly, and all she could do was be held by Erik. It helped some, but nothing in the end could cure the meteor sized hole her heart.

Erik looked over at the door as Mel walked in, and she came in with her usual clipboard. "Christine, Mel is here."

"I don't care!" She just wanted to be left alone!

"I can come back after she's ready to check her progress."

"Christine c'mon. The sooner we're done here the sooner we can go home and cry in private." Erik got out of the bed, and Christine rolled over onto her back despite wanting to still have her face in the pillow. She was at the point where she just wanted him to be out of her so she could hold him and cry, then go home and cry.

She watched as Mel washed her hands and put gloves on, then came over to the bed and moved the sheet out of the way. The rest she wasn't sure what happened because she couldn't feel or see a thing. "Okay so you're almost there. You're at nine centimeters."

"How long to I have to stay in the hospital?"

"Until tomorrow. Well assuming you give birth today and it all goes perfectly."

"Fuck I want to go home immediately."

"I know and I'm sorry, but despite the outcome, it's still childbirth." Mel brought her hand back into view and pulled her gloves off. "I'll be back in fifteen or twenty minutes since you've been progressing at a rather consistent speed."

"Okay." Christine looked at the clock, and it was only five am. The biggest chunk of their visit to the hospital thus far had been the two hours sitting in the ER waiting room. She was going to probably have a baby in less time than it took for them to be seen in the ER, and that annoyed her. She was definitely going to be complaining about that. "Where were you thinking about going to when you said last night we'd go somewhere after this was done?" Christine just wanted to go somewhere far away where she could breathe and work through everything at her pace. "How long can you be gone?"

"Wherever you want to go, and I can be gone as long as I want to be. Nadir is trained to do what I do in case I ever decide to step down. So he can fill my shoes for two years if I needed him to, just say the word."

"That's great to hear." Christine looked over in the corner of the room as she pushed herself up, and she noticed two bags. "Where'd those bags come from?"

"I ran home and got us some clothes, and grabbed a few of his onesies in case you wanted to dress him once he was here."

"Oh thank you. Bring me his onesies, I want to look at them." Because for some reason, she was willingly doing something that was going to make her cry again. Erik walked over to the bags, and he brought over the smaller of the two that had Christine clothes and Alexander's. He brought the bag over and unzipped it, and Christine reached in, and grabbed the first onesie she felt. She teared up as she held it up letting it unfold. "He would look so handsome in this one." It was a plain green and white long sleeved, striped onesie, but it was fitting she thought. "This one. Is this okay with you? This is your thing too." She sniffed as she set the onesie down on her lap, and she looked over at Erik.

"That's a nice one. It'll be good for pictures… I do want pictures of him with us. This is the one picture I'll willingly take." Erik started rubbing her upper back, and Christine's face scrunched up to help keep the tears at bay.

"I want them too." He kissed her temple when he heard the shake in her voice, and she appreciated his attempts at trying to comfort her. "You like Alexander, right? You're not just saying you like it because I'm crying a lot?"

"I love the name." He was happily indifferent. He didn't have any better ideas, and it was a solid name so he was happy with it. "I was thinking we could donate everything to charity. Keep a couple outfits, some things to remember him by but the rest can go to someone who needs it."

"Good idea… But I want to wait a little bit before we get rid of everything."

"Well yeah. I meant once we're ready." Christine nodded and looked back into the bag, and she pulled out a pair of white socks and a hat.

"I want these on too. Or maybe not the hat so we can see his hair and face."

"We can take the hat off for a photo, and keep it on for another."

"Okay." She was suddenly dealing with chest pains when she tried figuring out how they could get his hands and feet in the photos. She wanted to be able to remember everything about him. She looked over at Erik, and she saw a couple tears roll off his cheek. "Just let it out. I know you're holding it in because of me. I can handle you being sad about your son dying. He's as much yours as he is mine." Christine watched as he put his head back and took a deep breath, then he let the breath out, and it came out rather shaky. "Erik, just cry already."

"I need to take my mask off to cry." Erik wiped his eyes off, and Christine sighed before pulling him over and taking his mask off.

"Now," she pulled his head up to her shoulder, and Erik found the position rather uncomfortable. So he sat down on the edge of the bed. "cry before you get angry. Anger won't help this situation nor will holding everything in."

"You make crying sound so easy." She wrapped her arms around him, and Christine was ready to thwap his head. "This is really awkward." He was more of a natural cryer, not a forced cryer.

"Oh my god fine. I was trying to hide your face so you could comfortably display some emotion in this situation but never mind." She crossed her arms and looked straight ahead, and Erik realized he fucked up. "Just keep it pent up, I don't care."

Erik was about to start apologizing when someone knocked on the door, so he quickly grabbed his mask and secured it back on his face. When it was Mel Christine was hopeful she was able to push soon. She just wanted it all to be over. "Hey, so I just wanted to come in and talk to you guys, and make sure I know what you guys want to do before it all starts. Do you want to hold him?"

"Yeah. I wanna clean him off and maybe put some clothes on him. Then I want to take a couple pictures of him so we have something to remember him with."

"Okay. We can also do an ink stamp of his feet and hands. Would you guys want that?"

Christine nodded as she felt the tears coming back. "Please. We named him… His name is Alexander." Christine covered her face as the sobs returned, and Erik went back to rubbing her back.

"That's an amazing name. Good pick you two… So you might not be able to dress him depending on his condition. I just want to prepare you for that possibility, but either way cleaning him off will happen, and if he's too fragile we can wrap him in a blanket."

"Whatever we can do we want to do." Erik hated seeing Christine crying.

"Okay. I'm going to check and see if she's completely dilated. Let's hope she is so we can get this done. I can only imagine it feels like it's dragging along."

"Just a little bit." Erik watched Christine while Mel did her hand washing thing, and he only turned his attention away when there was potential news. Mel moved her hand up under the sheet, and Christine spread her legs so Mel could get done what she needed to get done.

Which didn't take long thankfully. "So good news. You're fully dilated, and we can get this moving now. I'm going to go get everything I need, and I'll be back soon." Christine took a deep breath, mostly to keep herself calm. It was almost over, she was almost able to go home and deal with everything by herself in her soft bed, and not the cardboard bed she was on at that God forsaken hospital.


	26. Chapter 26

"Okay Christine, are you still comfortable with everything?" Mel was down between Christine's legs, which were spread out so the world could see her vagina. It wasn't her favorite position when more than one person was in the room.

"Yeah I'm fine." She was unsure on how she was going to be _after_ giving birth, but at that point she was doing as well as one in her situation could be.

"Okay. Well whenever you're ready you can push." Christine squeezed Erik's hand to help her gather the strength to push.

"You've got this." He kissed her hand that was grabbing onto his like it was keeping her down on the bed.

She took one final deep breath, and quickly, like ripping off a bandaid, started pushing. Thankfully the morphine was an amazing drug, because she didn't feel it besides a slight pinch. "Good. Keep pushing." Mel counted up to ten, and Christine stopped at eleven. She caught her breath, and after getting Mel's go, she pushed again. "Okay excellent, this is going to be fast. I'm already able to see him. Push again." Christine complied, and it felt like twenty minutes, but it didn't take long for Mel to put her hand up getting Christine to stop. She seemed… forlorned. "I see what happened. The umbilical cord got wrapped around his neck. It's… _tight_. Like I'm going to have to cut it off."

"You're kidding me? I didn't do anything wrong? He just… Wiggled around a little too much?" She was relieved but also heartbroken that it wasn't her, but something so simple was what took his life.

"Yep. Umbilical cords can be pesky. Okay so he's out, and I'm going to get this umbilical cord off before giving him over. It looks like you'll be able to dress him. I don't know if he'll fit though, he's pretty tiny."

"I don't care if the clothes are loose." Christine waited impatiently, and she was impressed she wasn't crying.

Erik took a towel offered to him by the one nurse there. Erik wanted to look, but was waiting until Alexander didn't have a cord wrapped around his neck. It was just… Grim. Being strangled by the thing that was feeding you. It almost made him want to throw up.

"Alright, here he is. He's beautiful." Mel stood up, and all the crying Christine hadn't been doing came all at once when she saw Alexander in Mel's arms. She set him down on Christine's chest, and Christine picked him up before Erik could give her the towel, and she held him up to her neck. It was sobering, Christine never imagined she'd be apart of the statistic of women who have a stillborn. It was something too tragic for even her life, but there she was, holding her son who she never got to meet.

"Oh he's so handsome." Christine coughed from all the crying, and she appreciated the kiss Erik gave her. She felt even worse when he was finally crying.

He wasn't all too comfortable with crying in front of Christine let alone strangers, so when the nurse left he felt some better since Mel was busy doing something. "He would've been amazing." Erik rubbed Alexander's cheek, not caring about the bodily fluids still on him. "He has your nose." Erik's heart broke seeing his and Christine features in his face, which managed to make the situation all too real. He took his mask off, not caring if Mel saw at that point. His son was dead, he wasn't going to worry about keeping other people comfortable. "Fucking hell." He rubbed his eyes, and Christine decided it was time to clean Alexander off.

"Okay, let's start cleaning him." She sniffed as she laid him down on the towel, then grabbed the edge of the towels and started wiping him off. She thought she was going to be able to hold it together, but she got to his hands, and they were just so small and innocent, she lost it again. Her throat was killing her, so was her eyes from crying so much, but it just kept happening. She wished running out of tears was possible. She put his hand in hers, and she mostly accidentally wailed when she realized she'd never be able to feel him holding her pinkie with his little hand, or grab at her hair with them.

"He's so small." Erik felt like an outsider almost, he was never going to have the emotional connection with him that she did, and he felt like he was more annoying than anything else. "Do you want a minute alone with him?"

"No please stay." She grabbed Erik's hand while wiping Alexander off with her other hand. "Don't leave us."

"Okay I'll stay." He put his free hand in his pocket, which made Christine realize why he wanted to leave.

"Grab a part of the blanket and help me clean him off. Like pull the chair over so you're closer to us." Erik did as she said, and he sat down as she went back to wiping him off. He started on the legs, and his heart wrenched seeing his tiny little feet. "He's so blue."

"I was choosing to ignore that." Christine nodded, and it didn't take them long to finish getting all the fluids off of him. "So how do you want to dress him?"

"I'll lift him up and you can put the clothes on." Christine was too shaky to focus on something so meticulous. She lifted him up, making sure to hold his neck. She didn't care if she didn't have to worry about that, she wasn't going to throw him around because he wasn't there anymore.

"Okay." He undid the buttons in the crotch, and put the onesie over Alexander's head after scrunching the onesie up. He carefully put his arms through the sleeves, then Christine laid him down so Erik could get the onesie down. He was careful not to button up any body parts, and then he grabbed the socks. Everything slid on so easily, which he was relieved with since he didn't want to be too rough. Once the hat was on Erik was glad to be done, and Christine managed a smile as she looked down at Alexander. He truly was handsome.

"Are you ready to hold him?"

Erik hadn't been expecting to hold him, why? He didn't know, but holding a live baby scared the shit out of him, so he wasn't sure how well he'd fair with a dead one. Either way he nodded. He'd regret it if he didn't. Christine handed him over to Erik, and Erik felt himself tear up again as he looked down at Alexander. "He's so small. Like he is obviously small but holding him is a completely different story."

"Well he's only thirty weeks, so he had ten weeks or so of a lot of growing." Christine watched as Erik looked at their son with such love and sadness… She never could've imagined being able to handle a situation like losing a child, but there she was, being forced to handle it. She liked to think she was doing as well as most people. She wanted to hold him forever and never have to say goodbye, she wasn't sure she was going to optionally be able to say goodbye.

"Are you two ready for the pictures?"

"Yeah." Erik handed Alexander back to Christine, and she started to rub his cheek. His skin was just so soft. She looked up when she heard the click of the camera, and she didn't realize it was more like "while she did normal things" photos. She was fine with it, she was just caught off guard. She also hadn't realized the nurse had come back into the room.

"Are you almost done down there?" Christine wanted to make room so Erik could sit next to her, but her legs were still up.

"Yeah. I just was taking the placenta out, now I'm cleaning you up."

"Oh thank you."

"No problem." Christine moved Alexander so he was on his tummy with his face on her shoulder, and she started rubbing his back as gently as she could.

The camera went off again, and Christine thought it all felt awkward to her. She didn't like it, but, she wanted the pictures so she dealt with it. Mel stood up, and pulled her gloves off just to put fresh ones on, but this time she started cleaning the table she had. "Legs?"

"Almost." She abandoned the table, and pulled the end of Christine's bed back out and fixed the sheets. Then she lifted Christine legs out of the props, and laid them down on the bed. "There you go. I'll leave you two alone for a while, just get a nurse when you're done, and let them know you need me, then I'll come in."

"Okay, thank you." Christine rubbed Erik's arm, and she remembered why she had wanted her legs down to begin with. "Hand him to me and you can help me move over so you can sit down." Erik set Alexander in Christine's arms, then he lifted her up and gently moved her over. He sat down and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and Christine laid her head against his chest. "Much better." She was distracted by looking at Alexander's face, taking in his puffy face and long jet black eyelashes and hair. "He has your chin."

Christine nodded, and she felt her heart manage to find a big enough piece to break. "He has your nose." She watched Erik rub Alexander's nose, and he was just smiling, but she could still see the tears brimming his eyes. "He would've been so close with you." He could just picture Alexander and Christine running around the house giggling and playing, and how much of a mama's boy he would've been. God the missed potential was killing him.

"I like to hope that'd be the case." Christine continued scanning her son's face, trying to burn him into her brain.

Erik pulled Alexander's hat off so he could give the boy a kiss on the forehead, and Erik was taken back when he was still somewhat warm. Erik figured it was thanks to Christine's body heat he still had some warmth to him. "You're an incredible woman, Christine. I hope you know that." Erik couldn't imagine giving birth to a child merely an hour after finding out the child wasn't alive. He'd need a few weeks to get his shit together.

"Thank you." She blinked slowly, and when her eyes crossed she sat up and yawned to help her wake up. "I'm exhausted."

"I can hold him if you want to get a short nap in."

"I don't want to sleep until we're both ready to say goodbye and give him over."

"You might not get some sleep for a while." Christine shrugged her shoulders, and when even sitting up her eyes crossed. She had a sleepless night and the morphine working against her, so basically she was fighting a losing battle.

"Okay. Like a twenty minute nap, then wake me up." She gave Alexander to Erik, and she tried not to feel awful about taking a nap. She was just exhausted, and she didn't want to drop Alexander if she accidentally dozed off.


	27. Chapter 27

**Sorry, lost interest in posting (and writing) for a little bit. I'm still not feeling it, but I'm trying to force myself to get over the bump.**

* * *

Christine panicked when she woke up on her own, and not by Erik, which meant he let her sleep a lot longer than twenty minutes. She looked over, and he was still sitting in the chair holding Alexander. "How long did you let me sleep?"

"A couple hours. You're fine though." Erik looked up from their son, and he weakly smiled at Christine. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah… Can I hold him again?" He had two hours to hold Alexander, now she needed to process everything while looking at his beautiful face. She knew their time was running out since sooner or later they were going to have to give him up, seeing that he was still gone and bodies got relatively not pleasant after death. "I'm hungry, has a nurse mentioned to you when I get to eat?"

"I'll go ask. What are you wanting?"

"I dunno, probably a sandwich since it's a hospital. I'm not mentally hungry so just surprise me." She watched as Erik set Alexander in her arms as if the slightest pressure would break him, and once he was in Christine's care, Erik moved towards the door.

"Alright." Erik wasn't sure what she meant by mentally hungry, but he didn't want to ask for clarification, so he left the room with a sandwich in mind.

. x .

Christine never thought she'd be ready to give him up, but he started getting pale, and she just couldn't handle it. She had a nurse come who went and got Mel, and she looked as tired as everyone else. "Are you sure?"

"No, but he's getting pale and it's just too hard for me to see that." Christine kissed his forehead one last time before handing him to Erik, who did the same before handing Alexander over to Mel. "Can he be cremated?"

"Yes. You two can find somewhere who'll get into contact with the hospital and we'll give him to them, and they'll do the cremation." Christine nodded, and Mel hesitated before setting Alexander in the basin she brought, then she covered it with a blanket. "Do you guys want his clothes back?"

"If they're retrievable and aren't completely gross by the time they're able to get them off."

"Okay. I'll take him then, and I'll come in and check on you guys in a little while." Mel flipped the light in the room off while pushing the basin, and Christine was amazed she wasn't crying. She was mostly numb at that point. It had been so many hours, she had already cried so many tears… she just wanted a break. To be awake and be happy, to sleep comfortably without feeling bad. She wanted it to be over.

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Erik's phone ringing, and she watched as he grabbed it while wiping his cheek off. "Yes, Nadir?" Erik looked over at the clock and sighed when it was pushing seven. "I know I had a meeting half an hour ago, I've just been a little preoccupied. Apologize and tell them I'm dealing with a family emergency. Then cancel all my appointments for the next few months. I'm going to be out of town." Erik set his hand in Christine's when she put her hand out for him, then she squeezed his hand to help with her urge to scream. "No not everyone is fine, but we'll push through this. Christine is strong."

"Just tell him so your meetings won't be mad when he cancels." Christine didn't want everyone knowing their business, but she didn't want Erik's business to suffer.

"We uh… The baby didn't make it. We've been at the hospital since last night and he was just taken away. So tell them there's been a death in my family and I'll be gone for at least two months. If they have a problem with it, fuck 'em. There's plenty of people waiting to take their spots. Plus that means you get to take over for me starting immediately until I'm back. Okay? Thank you, and good luck." Erik waited a few seconds before hanging up the phone, and he sat back down in the chair next to Christine's bed. "Sorry about that. I completely forgot about my phone up until now."

"It's okay." She sighed and looked at their hands, and she tried figuring out what she was going to do once they got back home.

. x .

Christine was relieved when she got home, the hospital wasn't a good place for her. It felt like a little bit of the weight on her shoulders was lifted, but just enough to help her breath better.

Erik watched as she stood in the family room looking around, and she looked towards the hallway where her and Alexander's room was. She walked into the hallway, shutting the door to the nursery without even stopping. He heard her door click shut, and he looked down the hallway which was full of closed doors. He was about to grab his bag when he heard a door squeak open, and he looked back to see Christine's door cracked open. He felt some better knowing he wasn't going to be completely shut out. "Are you hungry?" He needed something to do, sitting around alone wasn't going to help him with anything.

"Not really." He sighed and walked back towards her room, and he looked in the crack before quietly walking in. "Did you forget the rules of my room? Always knock before coming in." He rolled his eyes and he knocked on the dresser, and Christine rolled over on her back since he was adamant on bugging her. "What? I said I wasn't hungry."

"I know. Let's not let this eat us up, yeah?" He turned her lamp on to get some light in the room, and he noticed Christine's eyes were already red. "Let's celebrate his life."

"What life is there to celebrate? He fucking killed himself before ever meeting us."

"Christine he didn't kill himself. Don't do that to yourself. Accidents happen, and this was an unfortunate accident. He wasn't escaping us, he wasn't doing anything besides being a baby and shit happened. Shitty shit happened, but it wasn't because of either of us." Erik pushed her drapes open, and he sighed when it was raining still. That really didn't help his cause. "Come on. Hop in the shower, get packed and we'll leave once you're ready."

"I'm good."

"I will drug you."

"Please do." She hugged her pillow to help get comfortable, and she watched Erik start tapping his foot. "I don't want to go anywhere right now, cut me some slack."

"Because I know what you're doing. You're going to lay in bed for months, get depressed and we both know you don't need to do shit that'll make you depressed. So get a shower, pack your ass up and be ready. We're going somewhere sunny."

"Why do you care if I'm depressed?"

Erik rubbed his face while trying to keep his frustration in, but he needed to get through to her. "Because the last time you were depressed I had to gag you until you threw up to save your ass! I- I can't be on suicide watch, finally think you're fine, leave the house for an hour and come home to you dead in the bathtub. Call me selfish but I can't lose Alexander _and_ you. I still love you, and having a family with you was one of, if not the best thing to happen to me. I can't lose you both. I don't know how I would cope with that."

Christine rolled back onto her side so her back was towards Erik, and she shut her eyes when she heard him leave the room. She just wanted to sleep in her own bed where she could be comfortable.

. x .

Erik decided to go downstairs and check the mail, and he was standing going through the large stack of envelopes when someone walked up next to him. He glanced over when they weren't getting any mail, and he shut his box and put the key in his pocket when it was Maley. "What do you want?"

"Just came to see how awful you're doing without me, and my suspicions were confirmed. You look like shit."

"I don't look like shit because we're divorced. I have more going on in my life than you."

"Aw trouble in paradise?" Erik sighed when he turned for the elevators and she followed. "Babies can only be so entertaining."

"She and I don't have a baby."

"I was calling her a baby, idiot. Besides I know you got her knocked up, it'll be here soon enough."

"No he won't. She and I just got back from the hospital, he died. So if you could kindly never come into a three mile radius of me and Christine again that'd be great." Erik stepped into the elevator, and when he turned around he was confused when Maley almost looked… Sad? He didn't really see her display emotion besides anger so it caught him off guard. "Enjoy your miserable life." He pressed his floors button, and he resumed going through the mail as the doors slid shut.

He stopped the going through when he came to an envelope addressed to both Christine and himself, but his name and the address was in a completely hand writing than Christine's name. There was no return address either. He tucked the mail under his arm and opened up the mysterious envelope, and when he pulled a letter out he unfolded it. The first thing he did was turn to the last page to see who it was from, and it was from a Michael and Julia. He tried wracking his brain for why those names sounded familiar, and he decided to ask Christine when he couldn't remember.

He got up to the condo, and he went into Christine's room. He couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not, but the lamp was off again and the drapes were closed. "Hey you got a letter." He tapped her side getting her to wake up, and when she rolled over she seemed less than pleased. He was glad to know she hated him, or at least it felt like she did.

"What do you want? I'm sleeping."

"I know, but you got a letter Bitchy Pants." He was hurting too, but he wasn't going to let her be mean to her. He was her only target, he got it, but still.

"I'm not bitchy."

"Okay and I'm not ugly. Here you go." He set it on her side, and left her room once again. It was easy to be mad. He was mad, but he wasn't going to mistreat Christine. It wasn't going to do anyone any good, so he held it in. He'd find a good time to scream sooner or later. Maybe punch the wall…

"Erik? Did you think this would be cute?" He stopped and turned around, and when she had the letter in her hand which was shaking, and she was crying, he _really_ wanted to know who the letter was from.

"I don't know what you mean by that."

"Writing a letter and signing it as from my parents to try and make me feel better?" She crumpled it up, and Erik held his finger up to his mouth.

"I didn't write that, _and_ it came in the mail. So I probably wouldn't ball up your parents letter."

"You're such an asshole!" She threw it at him as more tears started rolling down her cheeks. He watched as she hurried over to him, and when she raised her hand as if to slap him he grabbed her wrist. He didn't grab it tightly, just enough to stop the motion from happening, but boy did she look like a deer in headlights. "Let-"

"Do not fucking hit me. I delivered you a piece of mail that came for you. I expect the same amount of respect from you as I give to you, which includes no hitting. I understand that you're mad but he was my son too and I'm hurting too. I can't- I _will not_ be your punching bag. Do you understand? If you don't like the letter then I don't know what to tell you, but I didn't fucking write it." He put her hand down before letting go, and he walked away towards his room. "I'm going to go to work since I'm not needed here. There's no point in sitting around for two months." He walked into his room and shut the door behind himself so he could get ready.

Christine was still in shock over Erik grabbing her wrist, not because she was scared, no, but because it just surprised her. She never expected him to do something like that, and there she was betraying his trust and trying to slap him. She looked down at the letter, and she tried figuring out how she was going to get it up off the floor. She could leave it and hope Erik would pick it up, or she could get creative. Finally, she kicked it over into the kitchen, grabbed a pair of tongs and slowly bent over as little as possible. They gave her pain meds to help with any possible pain which she was thankful for, but she still couldn't do anything for a while. She uncrumpled the letter, and she realized the handwriting was in fact her mom's, and she wanted to know where the letter came from.

Christine walked over to his room, and she slowly opened the door. She set the letter on his dresser when he was standing looking outside his window in nothing besides his boxers, and she eyed the faint scars on his back, which she had always assumed were from his mother. She wondered what it felt like to be as alone as he was during his childhood, which caused a crippling pain to shoot through her heart.

She didn't like being alone, she liked being with other people, even if they were just doing their own thing in the other room. She walked up behind him, and she set her hands on his back and arm, and she kissed his skin which was smelled like his usual cologne. "I'm sorry. I hate myself for even thinking slapping you was an acceptable idea. Please find it in you to forgive me." She squeezed his arm, and she kissed one of the bigger scars. She'd never really paid much attention to them, so she hoped paying attention to them would make him feel better. "Are these from your mom?"

"You're fine, and some my mom, some Maley." She frowned, and she looked up at him. "I'm sorry for grabbing your wrist."

"Don't apologize. I was completely out of line. Maley would hit you?"

"I mean she'd punch, scratch and kick, but when we'd get in a especially heated argument she'd throw stuff at me. Her preference was things that broke into sharp shards."

"Jesus Christ." Christine moved around to in front of him, and she set her hands on the sides of his neck. "I'm sorry about how those people treated you. I would never trust anyone for a while, but here you are trusting me. Why?"

"Because you have a good heart." Erik set his hands on top of hers, and Christine blushed at the compliment. "Maley and my mother were monsters, and you're absolutely nothing like them."

"You give me too much credit."

"We're going through shit right now. I have a feeling this won't be our last argument. We'll say and do things we'll end up regretting, we'll apologize and move on. This situation has broken up marriages, this isn't going to be a smooth road even if we're just friends."

Christine sighed as she eyed his arms that were now crossed over his chest. "I know. I wish I'd never gotten pregnant at this point. All it did was fuck everything up. He's gone so it was seven months wasted, and here we are worse off than when we were screwing around. When did everything get so fucked up?"

Erik didn't want to say it, but it was true. "When you broke up with me."

"I guess we did already established I'm best at fucking shit up."

"Don't say that." He rubbed the top of her head, and he walked over to his closet so he could find something comfortable to wear.

"It's true… you're not still going to work, are you?" She didn't want to be alone when her life was going good, but after the shittiest moment in her life just occurred, she really didn't want to be alone. "I'm ready to be a decent human being." She looked down at the floor, and she saw Erik glance over at the letter.

"What the hell did they write?"

"Just a couple stories about before I was born." Christine walked over and grabbed the letter, and she wondered why her parents hadn't given her the letters they wrote up front. Instead they had people sending them to her as her life went on. "You can read it. It was addressed to you too."

"Read it to me." He stepped into his sweats, and she skimmed the paragraph before going back to the top.

"To our Dearest Christine and whomever she ends up being with; pregnancy is this beautiful journey that no one can replace, but my god does it get tiring towards the end. Pregnancies aren't like in the movies, you struggle to poop, you don't do yoga besides the ten minutes it takes you to bend over to grab something you need, don't even try wearing with anything over an inch tall heel and the glow gets really old _really_ fast. But as I said, it's the best thing I've ever experienced. The best thing I learned was patience, and sometimes things don't always workout as planned, but that's okay.

Before you were born, I was pregnant with another little girl, and we ended up losing her. The doctors never knew why, but she was there one day and gone the next. We let the darkness and depression consume us because it was easy, but then one day you came around. You gave us something to look forward to, and the day you were born was the best day in your father and I's life. You brought the life back into our world. We hope you and the father feel the same way when you meet your child, and if you're as unfortunate as we were and lose a child, just remember, the easy route isn't the best route. Get back up, live your life and mourned them in a way that you'd want them to mourn over something.

Your father and I love you, our grandchild and son in law so much, and know we're proud of your little family…" Christine folded the letter shut, and she sighed as she watched Erik sit down next to her. "I think things have gone vastly differently than my parents thought my life would go."

"Sounds like it, but hey, you're not in a bad spot."

"No I'm not which is nice." She laid her head down on his shoulder as he put his arm around her.

"You could be married to a guy you don't like, let alone love."

"Excellent point." She sighed as she tried to stay positive, but the negative was sitting in the back of her mind nagging at her. She was going to need a lot of practice ignoring the negative. "So you asked me about food earlier? Is that still an option?"

"Of course. C'mon." Erik stood up, and she followed suit. She stopped at the entry table when she saw the note pad, and it still had the man's number scribbled on it. She was awful at relaying information.

"Hey did you ever call this guy?" She picked the notepad up and walked into the kitchen, and Erik looked at the number before shaking his head.

"No. What did he want again? I can't remember."

"He just wanted to talk to you."

"Hm." He took the notepad from Christine, and he picked his phone up off the counter so he could dial the number.

"Put it on speaker phone."

"I am." He sent the call through then turned the phone into speaker phone. It only rang three or four times before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Uh hi this is Erik Dessin. I was given this number and was told you stopped by the house a while back?"

"Erik? Yes of course! Thank you for calling back."

"It's no problem at all. I'm sorry for taking so long, life has been hectic lately. Can't seem to get a break." Erik was mostly curious, somewhat worried and definitely nervous. He didn't like it when random people came to his house looking for him.

"It's no problem at all, truly. I just came by the other month because I have some stuff I'd like to talk to you about, but preferably in person."

"Oh? Okay. Is this a business interest?"

It was silent for a minute which caught Erik's attention. "Yes." He glanced over at Christine who was disappointed in the conversation. She was hoping for interesting… This was not.

"Okay, well I'm on vacation right now, but I can meet for dinner tomorrow night at about seven. Does that work for you?"

"Of course. Where would you like to meet?"

"Does Monnaly's suit your preferences?"

"Yes that sounds excellent. So I will see you at seven tomorrow night at Monnaly's."

"Great. Have a good day."

"You as well."

Erik hung up, and Christine yawned since that was the most uninteresting phone call she'd had in a while, and she'd talked to Mel recently about the hemorrhoid. "You better be bringing me to Monnaly's."

"Of course I am. Do you have anything you can wear?"

"Yeah I'll find something. There's a chance I'll cry and change my mind at the last second though." She leaned against the counter as Erik opened the fridge, and he sighed as he pulled the ingredients needed to make the easiest thing: breakfast.

"If you change your mind that's fine. I just figured I might as well get it over with."

"Yeah. Why would a potential business partner show up here though? You have an office. They must have gone to great lengths to find out you live here."

"Huh good point. Well I'll find out what it's about tomorrow. Bacon or sausage?"

"Bacon." Erik finished getting everything he needed, and after closing the fridge Christine went in behind him to see what there was to drink. "Here we go." She smiled when she found a bottle of wine, and she set it down on the counter before going for two glasses.

"Breakfast and wine? I'm not sure how well that'll work."

"I don't care right now. Let me be an adult and suppress my problems with booze." Erik went back to cracking the eggs open since it was her tastebuds.


	28. Chapter 28

The first night didn't seem like it was ever going to end, so finally she took a pain med so she could get some sleep. Which worked tremendously well. She didn't wake up till four in the afternoon giving her twelve hours of sleep, and even then, Erik was what woke her up. "Christine? Are you okay?"

She struggled to open her eyes, but she nodded anyway. "I'm fine. What time is it?" She rubbed her eyes to help get them open, but when she opened them and the room was bright she shut them again.

"Four. How did you sleep so late?"

"Being up till four and an oxycodone pill. That shit made it so I couldn't move anything. I liked it."

"I can imagine. I'm a foot taller than you and oxycodone knocked _me_ out when I took it. Well come on, let's get you out of bed and showered. Dinner is coming up."

"Okay." She sighed as she opened her eyes again, and it took her a few seconds to get used to it. "I feel like I look like a princess right now." She wiped the eye crusties out of the corner of her eyes, and Erik nodded as he eyed her hair which was rather distraught at that moment in time.

"You look fabulous." He took her hands and pulled her up so she was sitting up, and Christine smiled sheepishly. She was almost able to have more than a couple minutes of actual happiness, but reality came crashing in and she remembered everything going on. Her smile disappeared as she sighed and covered her face with her hands.

"I miss him."

"I know. I miss him too. But hey, let's try and stay happy. He'd want that."

"I know he would but it's just so hard." It didn't help thinking of him as something besides a baby. Seeing him as he got older, and became his own person just rubbed salt in the already very wide wounds that had lemon juice in them. "It's only been three days. Don't I have the right to be sad?"

"No of course you do. I didn't mean it like that. I meant let's mourn, but let's keep living our lives. Stay moving and thinking so we don't let it suck us in. God knows I already have an alcohol problem, and I don't want it to get worse because I sat on my ass instead of being apart of the world."

"If you have an alcohol problem I need to go to AA." Christine crossed her arms, and Erik didn't want to tell her she was right, but she was right. He didn't drink most of the time unless he was with her, and without a doubt she got shitfaced and he had to make sure she got home safely.

"We all have our vices and crutches. I just want to help us avoid leaning on ours the best we can. So c'mon. Up." He stood and took her hands, then pulled her up out of bed. "Shower time."

"It better not be with you."

"Of course not. I already showered, and since when do you not want to see me naked?"

"Since right now. I wanna shower alone today. Besides I don't think it's appropriate for friends to shower together."

"What if I don't tell anyone?" She smiled as he set her down in the bathroom.

"Still inappropriate. Thanks for the lift." Christine shut the bathroom door once he was in the hallway, and she momentarily eyed her body before electing to ignore the disaster that was her body.

. x .

She forced herself to put some effort into dressing up. She hoped it'd help her feel better by getting all dolled up, but also because she was doing something besides moap. She was trying, truly she was, but it was still fresh so of course she wasn't going to be cheery. She would keep living though, for her sake. She fiddled with her sleeves, which were white, and she had a red skirt up to right below her breasts. It hid her baby bump while being cute. Plus it was the only long sleeve dress she had. She topped it off with sheer black pantyhose and red pumps. Her lips were red, her eyes were smoky and she had curls that women would kill for, she was feelin' good and ready to go.

She was in her room transferring the essentials into her black shoulder bag when Erik knocked on the door, and after getting the okay, he opened the door. "Are you ready to go?" Erik kept his comments in about how she looked, but when she turned around his mouth hit the floor, and it was impossible for him not to say anything. "Oh wow you look amazing."

"Why thank you. I feel pretty good too. And yes I'm ready." She picked her purse up and walked over to Erik, and she smiled when he looked down.

"Can I just do something really quickly?"

"Because I'm in a good mood I'll say yes." She watched as Erik took his hands and moved her breasts away from one another. She giggled since that was the one downside of the dress. It pushed her breasts together so there was absolutely no circulation.

"Let's just find a wedge or something so they can breath in there."

"They're fine, but it's ridiculous, right? I hope they go down soon so I can start sleeping on my stomach. By the way I totally knew you were going to touch my boobs."

"How could I not? They're suffocating. Poor things." He took his hands away, and Christine adjusted her breasts so they were back in place. "Coat?"

"Oh!" She hurried over to her closet and pulled out her black trench coat, and she slipped it on before returning next to Erik. "Okay let's do this. I'm so curious."

"It's probably a newspaper trying to get a free interview."

"That's a thing?"

"Mhm. So until I figure out what's going on try to be quite. If you say anything and it is a reporter, it could go into an article."

"Okay got it." Erik opened the front door, and she thanked him as she left the condo. She was so ready to see what this guy wanted.

. x .

Christine and Erik walked into the restaurant, and she was thankful when the heat brought feeling back to her nose and cheeks, which were red from the cold. "It's so warm in here. Thank god." She rubbed her arms, and she followed Erik up to the hostess counter.

"Name?" The man looked up at Erik, then back down at his tablet which must've had reservation names on it.

"Dessin. It should be for three."

"Of course. Your third is at the bar, so I'll grab him after seating you two."

"Okay thank you." The man turned and made his way towards the back of the restaurant, and she felt herself getting giggly when they went to the elevator, meaning Erik reserved a spot in the level that basically spun a full circle in twenty minutes. She wasn't sure why, but it entertained her to no end. She had a feeling Erik paid to get a table on that level since it was always booked when they went, and on a Saturday night, the restaurant was packed.

They got up to the next floor, and Christine looked up at Erik when the entire level was empty. "Why aren't there any people up here?"

"I reserved the floor. I wasn't feeling Saturday night crowds."

"Oh okay. You won't hear me complaining." They walked up to a booth up against the window, and she thanked Erik when he took her coat off. She sat down, and once her purse was next to her on the chair, she watched as Erik sat down next to her. "I like the quiet. It's relaxing."

"That it is. It'll help me think." He sighed as he looked down at Christine, and he so desperately wanted to touch her cheek. "So how are you doing out of the house?"

"Good." She moved over so Erik could take his suit jacket off, apparently it was too warm for him. She personally was soaking the heat up.

"That's good. So how are you doing with the discovering yourself?"

"I don't think now is the time to talk about relationships."

"Why? Because we just lost a child or because we're expecting a guest?"

"Both. We're both emotional, do we want to make big decisions right now?"

"What big decisions? I just want to be able to kiss you again. I'm not asking that we elope." He set his hand on the table next to hers, and he hoped she'd take it. However he frowned when she shook her head.

"I definitely need to be able to just focus on me right now. Not worry about annoying you because I don't move on fast enough or worry about being someone you'll love."

"But I love _you_. Not your attempts at being perfect. You're smart and funny and I'd hope that you don't have to try around me. If you have to try around me just tell me, because if you do I won't let us be in a relationship again. You deserve to be comfortable with the person you're with."

"I'm-" Christine was cut off by the host and the older man of the hour coming up to the table. Erik stood, and he stook the man's hand as they worked through the pleasantries.

"Your waiter will be with you shortly." Christine smiled in recognition to the man since Erik and the older man were talking. They finally sat down, and she smiled when the man looked at her and recognized her immediately.

"Hi there. I'm Christine." She offered him her hand, and they shook. She noticed how calluses his hands were, and she knew there was no way in hell he was a reporter.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rick."

"Ditto. Sorry it took so long to get your number to him, life has been pretty busy."

"It's fine. I'm guessing you are not dating that woman though."

"No she's my best friend. I'm just bunking with him and I had no idea what to do when someone was asking for him, so I just guessed my way through. To be fair though, he was out of the country so he wasn't there when you stopped by."

"Oh it's fine. So how was your day you two?" Rick slipped his coat off, and Christine considered there was something wrong with her for not taking her coat off.

"It was good. So, Rick, I'd like to avoid being around the bush, why were you at my house if this is a business meeting? I have an office that's a lot easier to get into." Erik wasn't one for wasting time.

"I can appreciate that. You're right, this isn't about business. It's just that uh…" Rick slipped his coat off in attempt to prepare for the awkwardness of the conversation. "Twenty four years ago my wife and I were a happy family, we had this beautiful son, that one night disappeared out of his bed. The police looked for months, until finally they called the search off." Rick picked the folder he had brought with him up, and he set it on the table. Christine watched as he opened the folder, and pulled out a picture of a little boy smiling. He couldn't have been older than four. "I've been looking for him ever since, and I was about to give up when these photos were released of you at this party last year and you were with her, and I saw your smile." Rick pushed the photo up to Erik, and he took it. He wasn't saying anything or displaying any form of emotion meaning he was thinking.

She peeked at the picture, and the resemblance between the toddler and Erik's smile was uncanny. Even the hair had the same texture and way it laid. "Holy crap." She was _so_ glad she went to dinner. "How old was your boy when he was kidnapped?"

"Three."

"And you said twenty four years ago… Wait it can't be Erik. He's thirty one."

"Yeah that's the one flaw in your attempt to get money. Google would've helped you fact check." Erik set the photo down on the table and crossed his arms.

"Do you have a brown blotch on your right hip?" Erik looked down at Christine, and she was drooling over how deep it was getting. It was like celebrity drama on steroids.

"Who did you tell about that?"

"No one. I swear and no pictures were shared at all. Ask Meg, she hates me because I don't share." Christine started biting at her thumb nail, and she watched like a hawk when Erik unbuttoned the lower half of his shirt and pulled it up so the spot was visible.

"Does it look like this?"

"Identical. You both have the V dip on the top." Erik was still hung up on the age thing as he let his shirt down and started to button it up.

"Explain the age difference."

"How could I possibly explain what another person did? All I know is I have a birth certificate with December thirty first nineteen eighty eight on the birthday line. I have a social, we can do a DNA test, and I don't want any of your money. My wife and I are doing quite comfortably. I recently lead the construction on the new scrapper that just opened down on thirtieth and second so I don't need any money. I just want, if I can and you're interested, to bring a family back together. If the DNA test is positive of course. I never assume that you or anyone would accept the spot or picture as enough convincing."

"Well that's a good assumption. I'll do it, however don't expect much from me right now."

"Okay that's fine. So are you two dating or married?"

"Friends." Christine felt awful when she heard the twing of sadness in his voice. "I wanted her not to be living alone while she was pregnant so she lives with me."

"That makes sense. How is the baby doing? Looked like you were ready to burst when I saw you last."

Christine's good mood plummeted into a fiery pit and she needed booze. "He didn't make it."

"Oh I'm so sorry for your loss."

"It's fine it's life." She _really_ needed a drink, and thankfully their waitress walked up to the table. "Can I get a very full glass of tequila please? Like a bourbon glass. No ice." The woman seemed caught off guard, but she nodded and looked at Erik and Rick.

Eirk pressed his lips together before deciding on a drink for he and Rick to have. "Two glasses of your best scotch."

"Okay I'll be right back." Christine sighed and tried not to seem impatient, but she was impatient.

"Did the father pass or is he not in the picture?"

"He's right next to me. Can we change subjects? I spent a good amount of time on my makeup and I'd rather not ruin it." Christine took a deep breath as Rick offered one last apology to both her and Erik, and she was thankful when the waitress came over with a tray carrying their drinks. God bless the bar on the second floor. "Thank you." Christine took her drink, and she didn't hesitate to drink at least half of it immediately.

"You're welcome. So my name is Kathy and I'll be your waitress for the evening. Can I get you guys some drinks besides these? If not, any appetizers?"

"Wine maybe? I'm feeling wine." Christine scratched her nose as she leaned closer to Erik, and he set his hand on her arm and gently squeezed it.

"Water for she and I, and an order of the bacon wrapped scallops. Would you like anything?" Erik looked over at Rick, and he shook his head.

"No. Those were what I was eyeing so that's great. Can I get some hot black tea here or do you guys not have that?"

"No we can do hot tea. Just black tea?"

"Please and thank you." The woman nodded, and she left the table as Christine sat back against the booth. She was excited for the scallops, they were mouth watering and it'd been eight months since she'd last had seafood.

"So let's play with the idea of me _actually_ being your son, what happened exactly?" Erik was curious, mostly, but also overwhelmed and excited at the idea of learning the bitch who raised him wasn't his mother, but some deranged criminal who needed to be in jail. "Where am I from? Siblings, other family members, things like that."

"All we know is you were there the night before, and we woke up to you gone and the window open. We don't know who took you or why. You were born here in New York City, you have two brothers and a sister, two aunts and two uncles, and you have both sets of grandparents and a niece and nephew who are turning seven this year."

"It was a woman, I can tell you that much. She claims her name was Madeline Dessin but if your story is true I doubt it was real. I want to know how I've managed to get where I am if all of my papers are fake. Social, birth certificate, all of that. I'm a multimillionaire with a fake birth certificate."

"That's not the most illegal thing some multimillionaires have done. I'd like to think you're doing good."

"Well y'know." Erik wasn't going to say much on his ability to follow the law. He was still taking the dinner as an anything you say can and will be used against you interview. He had no clue who the man actually was so he figured better safe than sorry.


	29. Chapter 29

Christine found herself sitting, drinking and listening to Erik and Rick talk. Which she was fine with, she was mostly interested in her drinks anyway. The dinner ran well into the night, and when they got up for the first time in hours, Christine realized she had too much to drink. Thankfully it was tequila though so she wasn't going to be regretting it in the morning as long as she had a couple bottles of water before passing out. "I am very drunk." Christine hugged onto Erik's arm to help her stay standing up as the three of them stood in the elevator.

"I can imagine you are. Let's get you home and to bed."

"Hmm okay. I think bed sounds good. My boobs have been sweating all night."

"I told you they'd be sweaty."

"Well whatever." She pressed her face against his arm, and Erik withheld his comment even though he was probably going to have makeup stains on his jacket. "That's what I get for letting the baby die. My boobs are giant and I have no way to make them smaller besides waiting. They're really hard and they hurt."

"I know." He wasn't sure what to say to her self loathing knowing she didn't care about what he thought.

Christine yawned, and she giggled when Erik tapped her nose. "Why'd you tap my nose?"

"Because I wanted to." The elevator reached the ground floor, and the three of them walked outside, and to Erik's relief the sidewalk was empty for the most part. "So Rick, it was a pleasure having dinner, don't forget to text me with your schedule so we can figure a time out to do the test."

"It was, I enjoyed it very much. I'll get my schedule over to you in the morning, and you two, just remember, it gets better. The pain doesn't go away really, it just becomes apart of your daily life. You learn how to live with it."

"Thank you. It's just- it hasn't been very long so it's still fresh. It will get better though, I agree. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I hate seeing her so sad."

"I'm not sad right now. I'm just drunk." She took hold of his hand, and she smiled at Rick. "Good night good man. I hope he's your son, I like you. You're pretty awesome. Like Erik deserves a family. He's such an amazing guy and I'm so fucking lucky to have him in my life, and to know I'm worthy of his love. Like so worthy he's willing to wait for me. Fuck." She felt herself crying before she had a chance to stop it, and she knew her mascara was doomed. "I need to count my blessings. Losing a baby sucks but I'm alive and I'm in love and the man loves me back, I'm employed and comfortably living in New York City when there's so many homeless people struggling to make it from meal to meal."

"That's a good way to look at things, but just because someone is hurting worse it doesn't mean your pain should be ignored... Alright, I'm going to let you two go. Get her to bed." Rick waved to the two before starting to walk away from the two.

"Night."

"Have a good night, Rick." Erik put his arm around Christine, and they turned and started the walk back to the condo.

. x .

They got home, and Christine went into her room, put her pajamas on and went into the kitchen for water. Hangover or no hangover, she was thirsty. "I'm gonna go to bed." She threw away the first water bottle, and uncapped her second.

"Hey," Erik grabbed her hand, and pulled her up against him and into a hug. "You're an amazing woman, Christine." He kissed her head, and she sighed as she tried not to give in. She missed him so badly, but she didn't want to make him hate her by agreeing to enter a relationship and being unable to be a decent girlfriend at that point in time.

"I feel like I pissed someone off. First my parents, now Alexander. I'm scared something might happen to you. Like I'm not supposed to be happy or something like that."

"No, this is just how your life has panned out, but I'm not going anywhere. Even if we decide not to get together in the end I'll always be available as a friend. We just went through something that will keep us together for a while."

"Maybe… But thank you." She hugged him tighter, and she sighed. "I wasn't kidding when I said you're amazing. I don't deserve your love."

"Yes you do. You deserve better than me, but I'm too selfish to let you find better." She giggled as she gave one last squeeze before letting go.

"I'm glad you're selfish. Thank you for the hug, I needed that. Goodnight."

"You're welcome, and goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." The two of them turned to go their respective ways, and Christine went into the bathroom so she could scrub her makeup off. No matter how tired she was, she wasn't in the mood for a makeup breakout.

. x .

Two weeks had gone by, and Christine didn't really do much. She didn't cry but she didn't smile much either. She just sat on the couch existing. She'd toy with the idea of going into the nursery every once and awhile, but she couldn't get herself to do it. That door had been closed in her life, she didn't have any real reasons to go in there.

They found a cremation place, and Alexander's ashes were ready, but she couldn't pick them up. She'd cry until she fell, then she'd be sitting on the sidewalk crying like an idiot, so Erik went. He didn't fare all that much better when he got home, and so that day was pretty rough. She saw him crying, and the urn and she started crying, he hugged her and they just sat there and cried for half an hour or so.

It felt great, she was pretty sure it was a well needed release of emotions, and it made her happy knowing Erik wasn't afraid to actually display some besides happiness and annoyance every once and awhile. She especially loved his hugs. They were comforting, and his arms wrapped overlapped each other with her, so she felt safe on top of comforted. Once the crying ended, they found a spot to keep the ashes. For the moment on top of the fridge was the best place they had. They were definitely going to rectify that.

Before they knew it a month went by, and suddenly Meg was being rather text-y. She was continuously asking how the baby was doing and to let her know when her water broke, and Christine couldn't figure out a way to tell her about what happened. So she just played along.

Meg asked her the first day of November to meet her at this nice little brunch place near Meg's place, and Christine almost didn't go, but with Erik's convincing she went. She needed girl time, plus Meg needed to know about Alexander so she wasn't waiting for a baby to magically come. She pulled herself together for the first time since dinner with Rick, and she made her way to Mace's. It was cold, but she actually enjoyed it. It helped with the pain somehow. She was originally going to wear a dress, but she wanted warm legs so she opted for a jumper with long pant legs. She was glad she picked that, but also she wasn't because her obvious lack of baby gave her no time at all to gather her thoughts.

She opened the door to the place, and she stopped when the restaurant was empty, and was decorated with baby decorations. Meg, Annie who was Meg's mom, Alicia, Jackie and Maggie who was an old friend of her and Meg were sitting at a table in the middle of the restaurant laughing, and she almost left since she entered unnoticed. She slipped her jacket off removing the extra layer of security she had, leaving her jumper which was fitted in the torso with no sleeves, and a low turtle neck neckline. "Hey Meg? What's going on here? I thought we were meeting for brunch." Christine walked over to the table, and the laughing ended, and confusion radiated off them. She couldn't have been more uncomfortable.

"I… Decided to throw you a baby shower, but it looks like you already had him and decided not to tell me." Christine tried not to be offended by the idea of Meg thinking of Christine that way. That she was even remotely capable of something like that.

"No that's not what happened. I just didn't know how to tell you over text and I'm awful face to face so let me explain. He stopped kicking a month ago, so I went into the ER and they couldn't find a heartbeat. I gave birth to him after being induced, and the umbilical cord had wrapped tightly around his neck. So he didn't make it. He's not at home with Erik and I didn't decide to tell you that I didn't have a baby, he's on top of the fridge in an urn. So yeah. Thank you for this baby shower, I'll pay you back and everyone for their gifts if they can't be returned, but I think I'm going to go home." She smiled through her tears, and she walked away from the table. She was putting her jacket on when Meg stopped her, and she was expecting Meg to try and get her to stay, but instead all she got was a hug.

"I'm so sorry." Meg felt awful, she should've listened to Christine and not thrown a baby shower as she originally requested, but she wanted her friend to have that experience even if it as a few girls and some tacky gifts. "Please stay though, I'll take the decorations down and we'll just have a nice afternoon. Erik told me you haven't left the house in almost a month but didn't tell me why. I just assumed it was because you were getting further along and it's cold out. Either way that's not healthy."

"I know it's not, it's just easy. I'll stay, but please do take them down. I'll cry the entire meal if they're staring at me."

"Okay. Go sit down and I'll work on that." Meg rubbed Christine's back before letting go, and Christine walked over to the table and sat down.

Christine felt better once the awkward sorry's were through, which left nothing but happy things to talk about, which she needed. Well mostly happy. "So Meg tells me you're in a relationship with Erik Dessin? I might be from a small town but even I know that's big." Annie was all for gossip, especially if it was with her girls. She knew it was awful, but she couldn't help it. Obviously she only liked the gossip if they weren't getting hurt.

"I _was_ in a relationship with him." Annie's smile fell, and Christine could relate to that. "He's the father of Alexander, which was our little boys name. I broke up with him before I knew I was pregnant, and after leaving the wedding I moved in with him. We're just friends for right now, but we're hoping the relationship will start up again further down the road."

"So were you two together while you were with Raoul? How did that work?"

"Yeah I cheated on Raoul. I feel awful about it, but had I broken up with him I would've been homeless so I stayed. I left Erik deciding to work on Raoul and I's relationship, I found out I was pregnant, and I planned on just getting married and terminating the pregnancy, but even if Erik hasn't crashed the wedding I don't think I could've gone through with it."

"I'm so sad you couldn't make it, mom. That wedding wasn't one you wanted to miss." Meg walked past the table with a handful of streamers.

"I know, but I couldn't get off of work. We were understaffed that week even with all the calls I made. I hate allergy season."

"Allergy season is the worst." Christine grabbed a glass of wine that was close, and when it was grape juice she almost screamed. "Will there be any booze at this party? I can't deal with just grape juice."

"I'd say we could get some but I feel like we're enabling a habit you don't want to pick up." Christine frowned, and she couldn't believe she was drinking so much it was quickly obvious to people that haven't seen her in a while that she potentially had a drinking problem.

"Let's just say it's best that my parents died when I was fifteen and not twenty one. I have coping problems, but y'know. A glass of wine won't kill me."

"But the bottle you'll end up finishing in two hours might. Fruit juice only today. So when will I get to meet your friend/potential future boyfriend?"

Christine realized when she felt her bitchy attitude kick in over a glass of wine, that Annie was doing her a favor. It took her a minute, but she reigned in the bitchy. "I uh… I don't know. When would you like to meet him?"

"If he could come here that'd be pretty amazing." Annie smiled, and Christine got a please from Maggie.

"What you want to meet him too?"

"I mean yeah. Neck down he's handsome. I'd like to see it in person." Christine smiled since she had to remind herself the mask was a little off putting if you don't have the chance to get used to it.

"I'll call him then. See if he's up for some boozeless brunch." She grabbed her phone and dialed his number, and her heart started pounding when she put the phone up to her ear.

"Hey Christine, what's up?"

"Hey I'm being requested to request you join us for brunch."

"Meg's requesting I join?"

"No her mom and my friend Maggie are requesting. It turns out Meg threw me a baby shower so there's a few people here. You know the rest of them though."

"Employees?"

"Mhm." She knew she'd regret mentioning that.

"I don't know. I mean I won't be able to talk much and we both know I'm a talker." Christine giggled which made Erik smile. "I'll be there in a few. I'm just finishing up some paperwork at work that Nadir wasn't sure how to fill it out. Oh also Rick and I finally picked a date to do the test.

"Oh yeah? When will you two get it done?"

"Next Monday."

"Erik that's amazing. I'm really excited, and I hope it ends well. You deserve it." She started tapping the table since she wanted to get off the phone and for him to get his ass to brunch.

"I'm still working through it all. I don't really have any emotions towards the possibility yet."

"Understandable… Well I'll see you in a little bit. Hurry up I'm hungry."

"Okay I'm almost done."

"Okay cool. Bye."

"Bye." Erik hung up, and she sighed and realized Jackie and Alicia were staring at her.

"What?" Christine had to remind herself that to them, Erik was the big, scary boss. Not the Erik she knew.

"We just could never imagine talking to him like that." Alicia seemed to be in shock.

"Even if I were in your shoes I'd be scared he'd go all boss on my ass after telling him to hurry up." Jackie picked her glass of probably apple juice and took a sip.

"Well he's actually a really nice guy. Like he'd only go all boss on my ass when I ask him to… If you know what I mean."

"I don't know how anyone couldn't know what you meant." Christine giggled at Annie who seemed surprised by Christine's statement.

"I asked him a lot. I don't know why but it's really hot watching him take control like that… Mm." For the first time since giving birth she was thinking about sex, and it was pretty fun. "Anywho, he's not a scary boss man to me. He's Erik, and he makes me feel like his equal, which is incredible because I'm a pea and he's a horse."

"Yeah. He's really nice, he's just bitchy." Christine looked over at Meg who was still working on the decorations.

"He has his PMS days."

"Yeah. Like the day of your wedding when I went to him, he was super PMS-y. It's like would you cut that shit out there's more important things going on than your mood swings."

"He wasn't PMS-y after the wedding so I think he was just upset that the wedding was happening."

"Could be it, but still." Meg set a large pile of the decorations under a booth across be restraunt, then moved onto the table decorations. "What did he expect hooking up with an engaged woman?"

"Well seeing that I told him I loved him the night before he and I broke up, he probably expected me to leave Raoul. Which was a good expectation."

"You told him you loved him not even twenty four hours before you left him? No judgement but that's cold." Meg went to reach across Christine to get a decoration, but stopped and took it from Christine when she grabbed it for her.

When there were agreements around the table Christine was starting to feel judged. "I know. Awful timing. However I'm feeling just a little bit of judgement."

"I said no judgement from _me_. The others I can't speak for." Christine rolled her eyes as Meg smirked, then she decided to pay attention to the better friend.

"So Maggie, how are you doing? It's been a little over a year since I've seen you last."

"It's doing good. Jarred got promoted at work so we were able to upgrade from a one bedroom to a two bedroom apartment which gave us an office which is great. We just celebrated our fourth anniversary and that's about it. Life hasn't really changed much. Especially in comparison to yours. You were head over heels in love with Raoul, what happened?"

"I don't know. I found a good job, he wasn't treating me very well, and I met Erik. He was fun at first, but it didn't take long for me to fall head over heels in love with that idiot."

"Then why am I single?" Christine froze and looked to the right, and she sighed when Erik was in fact standing next to her.

"I'm not sure. Probably because I love you too much to ruin to ruin our relationship by getting into one right now."

"Ok I'll accept that answer. So how's everyone's afternoon going? I'm Erik." He offered Annie his hand, and she smiled.

"Annie, Meg's mom."

"It's a pleasure. You raised an wonderful woman."

"Oh thank you."

"You're very welcome. And you are?" Erik moved his attention to Maggie, and Christine shook her head when Maggie's eyes had been plastered onto his butt.

"Maggie. I'm a friend from college."

"Well I'm always happy to meet a friend of Christine's." Erik sat down next to Christine after that handshake was over. "Hi Jackie, Alicia and Meg."

"Hey, so quick question, Erik." He looked at Jackie, and when she seemed nervous he had a feeling he knew what she was going to ask for. "What did it feel like crashing a wedding? I'm curious, I don't think I've ever known anyone who's done that. I honestly was starting to think it was just a movie trope."

"It was frightening, exhilarating and humbling. Frightening because I didn't know if someone was going to like attack me, exhilarating because I just ruined a relationship in front of a bunch of people, and humbling, because it showed if you don't get your shit together the person you love could be gone in seconds, even when you think you've got them locked in at a wedding. I hope I never have to do it again."

"I can imagine. So I think everyone here can agree when I say I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine going through this." Jackie pushed a glass of apple juice over to him, and Christine watched him take a drink, and then watched the disappointment set in.

"Thank you, and this is apple cider. I don't want to be picky, but champagne maybe?"

"This is a non-alcoholic event. Apparently I have a drinking problem." Christine sighed as Erik suddenly seemed fine with the drinks.

"Oh in that case I'm fine with this."

"Why did you withhold that judgement until today?"

Erik tapped on the table as he sighed and considered his thought process. "I don't know."

"As long as you know." Christine shook her head, and she looked away as Erik smiled at her.

Meg had told Annie several times about how she was rooting for Erik which she originally found ridiculous, but when Annie saw his smile, she understood why Meg was picking sides. That was the smile she hoped to see when Meg finally found someone to settle down with. Hell, she wanted to find that smile for herself. The one where he smiled like nothing brought more joy to him than her, like she was the most amazing and awe inspiring woman he'd ever met.


	30. Chapter 30

To Christine's relief and demise, Annie fell in love with Erik. It was good because in the future she would want Annie to like Erik, but in current times she didn't want to be badgered by Annie to get back together with him.

All together the lunch was great. She loved talking to her friends and just laughing and having a good time. Plus she shamelessly flirted with Erik a couple times which was exhilarating. She forgot how fun flirting with him was. The best thing about the lunch was not getting drunk. She always felt like shit getting drunk and being drunk, it was a nice change of pace. She subconsciously knew she needed to slow down on the drinking, but it was just difficult when the pain she felt whenever she started to sting was like someone was ripping her heart, stomach and throat out all at the same time. She couldn't picture herself ever getting used to the pain of losing Alexander.

Seven weeks, which felt like seven years, had gone by and Erik was tired of sitting around in the house all day. If he was going to be on vacation he was going to be on a beach somewhere in Australia. He'd originally considered Greece, but it was January so it was far too cold to enjoy the beach. So he booked a place, packed everything up and went into Christine's room once they were ready to go. "Christine, c'mon wake up." He grabbed her hand and sat her up, but she just fell back down. "Wake up, I know you're faking it." He leaned over her and licked her cheek, and when she smiled he stood up.

"What do you want? I'm trying to sleep."

"Well ya little faker, we're going to Australia. So pack your shit up, we leave in two hours."

"What about Rick and the test? When are you two going to get that shit done?" She wiped her cheek on the pillow she was using, and Erik shrugged his shoulders.

"I scheduled it for in a month and a half. I have better shit to do right now than be forced to stay in New York because I have family to meet."

"Nadir? It's almost been two months."

"He's fine. So get packed, I'm all ready to go so you're slacking."

"Beach?"

"Mhm."

That got Christine to sit up, and she climbed out of bed and hurried over to the closet. "I need a-" she saw the suitcase by her door and hurried over to it. "Never mind." She opened it up, and she tried to quickly put together outfits she'd potentially need. "It's summer there, right?"

"Yes." He watched her scramble from her room to the bathroom a couple times, then act equally as rushed while grabbing more clothes. "Hey take your time. We're going international you don't want to forget anything."

"Oh fuck it. I have the money if I forget something I'll buy it."

"Oh yeah I forgot you're loaded."

"Not even close to you though." She kept note of her outfits as she folded her clothes, and Erik couldn't help but smile.

"Yeah, but my situation is a little different than yours… I know we're just friends, but you're fucking beautiful."

Christine's cheeks warmed up, and she smiled while focusing on her clothes. "I haven't even brushed my hair yet, or washed my face."

"I don't care."

"Well thank you." She packed her bikinis with more confidence knowing Erik wouldn't mind her baby pouch, and she didn't really care about what anyone else thought.

"You're very welcome." He sighed before standing up and walking past her to get to her dresser. Christine stopped momentarily when she got a hint of his cologne, and she shook her head when she felt herself get mildly flustered. She couldn't give into it even if she thought she was ready, Erik would get the wrong idea and she'd feel awful. She hated teasing him, he didn't deserve it.

"What are you looking for?"

"Just wanted to see if Maley left a couple things I had hiding in here." Erik opened the top right drawer, and he felt around on the top of it till he felt what he was looking for. "Wow I have to say I'm impressed." Christine's full undivided attention was on what Erik was doing, and she was waiting for him to share what he was talking about. "I could've been sure she would've taken it."

"Wanna share what you're groping up in there?" Christine crossed her arms out of annoyance and impatience, and Erik pulled the item down from the velcro he had to hold it up. Erik held the pink plastic toy, and Christine suddenly hated Erik with a firey passion. "Are you kidding me?" It was just one of the games you'd get in a kids meal where you had to get the hoops up into the bowl, and it was full with water. "Erik I can't describe the overhype and disappointment I just experienced."

"Hey, these things are fun." He sat back down on the bed, and she shook her head when he started playing it.

"I don't think anyone in their right mind would steal that."

"Hundred bucks says you'll be playing with this within two hours on the flight."

"Hundred bucks says I won't be playing with it within two hours on the flight." Erik held his hand out, and Christine without hesitation shook his hand. "Let's see who'll win."

"Okay. Now finish getting ready." She stuck her tongue out at him, and he chuckled while going back to his game.

. x .

They finally left the condo, grabbed some lunch and headed to the airport. Just not to JFK which was Christine's expectation. They continued a mile or so past the drop off point, and turned into a sketchy alley like intersection, then two turns later they were back with civilization at a security gate. Erik got them a car so his car wasn't sitting at the airport, so she couldn't hear anything the driver said to the security guard, but she tried her hardest. She wanted to know what was going on. "Where are we going? I wanna know." She had her face pressed up against the glass trying to see, and all Erik could do was sit and watch her scurry around the back of the car like a trapped squirrel.

"A minute or two more and you'll find out."

"Augh!" She sat down in defeat, and she humphed as Erik laughed.

"You're so impatient."

"Yes I am!" She crossed her arms over her chest and started tapping her foot. They drove for another minute, then the car rolled to a stop making Christine start moving around again. She heard a door open as she threw herself across Erik's lap, and when his door open she squealed at what she saw. "Oh my god no way!"

"Yes way." He waited for her to fall out of his lap and onto the ground, and she quickly pulled herself up.

"Let's go I wanna see!" She giggled as she grabbed his and hand started pulling.

"Okay I'm moving. Go easy on me I'm old."

"Possibly only one year older than me so until we find out you're immortal."

"Seems fair." He got out of the car, and Christine tried running, but Erik wasn't having any of that so she got to walk. "We'll be there soon enough."

"Why did you fly in a commercial plane when we went to D.C. if you just had a private jet chillin' waiting to be used?"

"My pilot took the month off."

"Oh makes sense." Christine squealed when Erik suddenly picked her up, and she swatted his arm since she almost peed herself. "You're such a butt!"

"You wanted to get to the plane sooner, right?" Christine leaned back against him in defeat, and Erik couldn't help but chuckle. "You're so adorable when you're mad."

"I know, believe me. I get that all the time." They walked up to the plane, and Erik climbed the stairs before setting her down in the entry of the plane. Christine's mouth dropped at how beautiful the inside of the jet was! It matched the black exterior, and it had gold accents. There were two sofas, four chairs facing each other with a table, then two chairs with their own small table. Then there was a door in the back of the jet, which of course captured her attention almost immediately. "Ooo a door." She hurried over and opened it up, and it was a small five by five hallway with three more doors. "More doors."

She opened the one on her left first, and it was a small kitchen with stainless steel appliances and black cabinets. It was very Erik. She left the kitchen, and opened the door in the middle of the hallway. She was taken back by the bathroom she was met with, and how tall it was, which made her notice just how tall the entire plane was. "Did you get a jet that was tall enough for you to stand up straight?"

"Absolutely. If I was going to drop twenty million on a private jet I wasn't going to be uncomfortable."

"Understandable. Walk in shower… Nice." The bathroom was equally as dark, black subway tiles lined the floor, and black granite framed the shower and sink. "This bathroom is amazing."

"It's nice, but the next room is my favorite."

"Oh? Let me guess, there's a bed in it."

"What makes you think that?" Erik crossed his arms as he followed Christine out of the bathroom, and she shook her head when she opened the door to the left and found a bedroom. "So you were right."

"I never could've seen that coming." She turned and looked at Erik, and she blushed when he was closer than she thought. "Erik, don't."

"Why not? I don't care if you're not interested in going out or having sex… Or kissing all the time, cuddling and things like that. Just knowing that I'm the one you'll kiss when you want to, and I'm the one you come to when you're sad is enough." He rubbed her cheek making her shut her eyes, but it didn't help her avoid tearing up. "We were doing so good, I can't be the only one who misses what we had. You know I don't want anyone or anything but you. If I can't handle being with you right now I don't deserve you."

"It won't be like it was. Believe me I wish it would be. What we had before was a fairytale, and reality came crashing in. I know you love me for me and I can't describe how thankful I am for that, but I can't risk finding out what your limit is."

"I don't care if reality came crashing in. Fairytale or reality I can't stand not being with you. Yes you can risk that. Like I said if I get annoyed because you're grieving, then you should leave me because that's ridiculous. I love you, Christine, and I want to be there for you with everything. Whether it's amazing or awful, or anything in between."

"Why do you want us not to work out?" She wiped her cheeks off as the tears she failed to fight back rolled down them.

"I do. That's why I want us to be together. Think about it, if we can't handle losing a child together how will be handle anything? Relationships are meant to be tested so you know you're with the right person. If the relationship doesn't make it then those people shouldn't be together most of the time." Erik took her hands in his, and she felt herself involuntarily squeeze his hands.

"I'm so scared I'll lose both of you. If we stay friends there's less chance of me losing you too."

"You won't lose me. I promise." He moved closer to her making her press up against the door frame. "Please let me be there for you."

Christine sighed as she looked down at their hands. "I love you and want to be with you, but I can't right now. I'm sorry." She took her hands back, and she walked up into the main part of the jet and sat down on one of the couches. She kicked her shoes off before pulling her knees up to her chest. She understood what he was saying, but she truly believed she couldn't be what he deserved at that point in her life.

"I'm going to uh- go help load the bags." Erik left the jet giving Christine a few minutes of alone time, which was nice but she didn't need alone time, she needed a time machine. Had she known what would happen she would've left Raoul that night without any hesitation or regret. But obviously the time machine wasn't happening any time soon so she got to live with her shit choices.


	31. Chapter 31

She really wished Erik had waited until they _weren't_ stuck on a jet for eleven hours together to make things awkward. After an hour on the couch, she moved into the bedroom where she slept, then watched movies then slept some more. It wasn't a thrilling first private jet ride, but she couldn't complain, she was on a private jet. Never in a million years did she expect to ever be on one.

She was packing up her things that she'd taken out of her carry on bag when Erik knocked on the door before opening it. "We have about an hour drive to where we're going so if you need to use the restroom I'd do that."

"Okay. I just went so I'm fine." She zipped her backpack up and threw it over her shoulder. "I'm gonna head to the car." She went to leave the room, but stopped and sighed when Erik blocked the doorway. "Please-"

"I just wanted to apologize. Just forget everything I said, okay? I shouldn't have unloaded onto like that. I'm sorry."

Christine looked up at him, and she grabbed her backpacks shoulder strap with both hands. "It's okay, really. Let's just enjoy the vacation, and when we get home we'll sit down and talk. I know I'll never be the same person I was before Alexander, but I can't stay single for the rest of my life. _However_ it's only been a month and a half. I'm still a mess in all aspects of life."

"I know you're still a mess. If you're even a fraction of the mess I am then you're a ginormous mess. I just was thinking there's no reason for us to go through this alone. I know we're there as friends, but it's not the same. Besides, I like messes."

"I know you like messes, but like I said, we'll talk more when we get home. Don't give up on me yet."

"I'll never give up on you." Erik turned and walked into the main part of the jet giving Christine room to get out, and she smiled when he put his arm over her shoulder. "Think you could help me find a nice lady here?"

"I would sabotage all your pursuants."

"Rude. I'd help you find a nice guy."

"Sure you would." Christine giggled as Erik shrugged his shoulders.

"I never said I'd let the bastard touch you. I just said I'd help you find one."

"Good point." Christine climbed out of the jet, and she waited for Erik before walking over to the black car waiting for them. "I don't know, I'm not one for random hookups."

"No? I wasn't a random hookup?"

"You were a partially thought out hookup. This guy I hang out with every once and awhile convinced me to sleep with you."

"Can I get his name and address? I'm gonna send him a fruit basket." Christine rolled her eyes as Erik opened the car door for her.

"I made the final decision. He just nudged me."

"So he'll get a small fruit basket." Erik climbed in after Christine, and he looked down at her as she rummaged through her purse. She stopped and pulled out a small black cloth bag, and in the bag were her sunglasses. She slid them on, then finally looked back at Erik.

"I'll take his small fruit basket. I like pineapple and chocolate covered strawberries."

" _Maybe_." Christine grinned and looked forward when the driver got in the car. She was ready to get to the hotel so she could shower.

. x .

"Jesus Christ Erik this is a mansion." Christine was standing in the foyer of the house Erik decided to rent, and it was so bright and relaxing, she loved it, but it was also huge.

"Not really. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms. It's the size of a normal house." Erik picked her suitcase and bag up, and Christine followed him to her room. "It does have a private beach though."

"We're on a hill top, how does it have a private beach?"

"Elevator down."

"Oh an elevator down. Nothing overly ridiculous."

"Do _you_ want to climb up ten flights of stairs?"

"Not really." She stopped next to Erik, and she held her gasp in when he opened the door. The view was indescribable. The room faced the beach, and the wall facing it had wall to floor windows. She never wanted to leave! "Oh my god this is beautiful."

"Wait till you see the pool and jacuzzi."

"Pool?" She hurried back out to the family room, and she pushed the wall of windows open, which also happened to be a door. She stepped out onto the patio, and to the left was a grill and table, to her right was a glass fire pit, in front of her down five stairs was an infinity pool and jacuzzi that was separated by a panel of glass. She stood looking at the pool trying to hold her excitement in, but she had always wanted to swim in an infinity pool, and there one was! Staring her in the face. "This is happening right now." Christine kicked her shoes off as she let the giggles she was holding in, out, and she pulled her shirt and pants off before running towards the pool and jumping in. "This is amazing!"

"What on earth are you doing?" Erik walked up to the edge of the pool, and Christine had her eyes at water level to hide her grin.

"Get in! The water feels _amazing._ " She turned around and swam up to the edge, and she was breathless from the view. "Look at that." She loved the ocean, it helped her clear her mind and forget about everything.

"Did you wear your bathing suit under your clothes?"

"Nope!" She giggled as she looked back at him. "I'm wearing a very expensive bra and panty set that I've come to terms with having to replace if the chlorine fucks it up. I'm so glad we waited to come."

"Why?"

"While my boobs were all big from the breast milk they were hurting if I didn't wear a bra. I'm gonna be wearing swim suits a lot so I'm just glad we waited so my body had time to get back to normal."

"Ah." Erik decided to join her as requested, and he pulled his shirt off before kicking his shoes off and taking his pants off. He hopped in, and Christine squealed at the wave he made. It pushed her closer to the edge of the pool, and when Erik finally came back up she swam over to him. "Okay the water is really nice. I was worried it'd feel like hot saliva."

"Gross." She pulled his mask off before he could protest it, and she set it on the patio so it was out of harm's way. "There. Much better… I hope you know."

"Know what?" Erik swam over to her next to her, and he looked down at the beach. He felt himself relaxing just listening to the waves crashing against the sand.

"How much I appreciate you."

"I've never really put much thought into it. I just treat you how I'd like to be treated."

"You do more than that. What friend would take another friend to Australia?"

"Well first, we're here to help with losing a child. To get away and maybe take a deep breath. Second, you know our relationship is more complex than just friends. We have a history."

"I know but still. I can't thank you enough for everything." She laid her arms over the edge of the glass, then laid her chin down on top of her arms, and she sighed as she started floating. "What do you want for Christmas? That's coming up in like…" Christine had to think of what day it was before realizing Christmas was only three days away. "In three days. I need some ideas."

"You don't have to thank me, or get me a Christmas present. Spending time with you is an amazing present." Erik followed suit, and she looked over at him once he was next to her once again.

"You know I'm going to get you something, so just tell me what you want."

"Christine there's honestly not many material items I want. What I do want is way out of our budget, and I'm a year away from comfortably buying it."

"Oh? And what's that?" Christine wanted to know what Erik felt the need to save up for.

"A yacht. Nothing big, just a nice little yacht I'd have docked in San Diego or somewhere in Hawaii. I'm not sure yet though."

"You're totally right. I can't afford that." Christine looked back at the ocean, and she tried thinking of anything he might want. "How about a watch?"

"I own a smartphone."

"Touché. Um… Socks?"

"I mean I won't dislike the gift, but I can afford my own socks."

"Good point." She scratched her chin, and hoped something would come to mind. "I'll think of something… I think… I'm going to go shower then take a nap. I'm exhausted."

"Okay. I'd recommend staying awake though. It'll help with the jet lag."

"You mean stay awake and sleep tonight? That's in like eight hours away though."

"I believe in you." Erik patted the back of her shoulder, and Christine took a deep breath as she prepared for the next five hours.

"Okay new plan. I'm going to go unpack, then I'm going to shower, then we're going to go find something to eat and after that I'm out of ideas."

"We could go check some local stores out since I need to buy a couple things, then we can come back and watch some movies or make dinner depending on how long shopping takes."

"Good plan. Okay, I'm going to go start on those chores." She yawned before swimming over to the edge of the pool that met with the patio, and she pushed herself up and out.

. x .

"I've never had better fish and chips than what we just had. We are so going back." Christine rubbed her stomach as they walked along a small strip of stores, her just waiting for him to find the one he needed to go in so she could bail and go to another store.

"We most definitely are." Erik finally stopped at one of the shops, it wasn't clear to Christine what it was, and she stood by as he opened the door.

"I'm gonna go to a shop I saw a couple doors down. You have fun in there."

"Okay I'll call you when I'm done." Erik's lack of questions meant he was doing the same thing she was. Christmas shopping.

"Sounds good. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Erik chuckled before disappearing into the store, and Christine hurried over to the soap shop where she hoped she'd find _something_. Anything really. She knew he was a fan of smelling good, which she'd never complain about, so she was thinking some nice soaps wouldn't be an awful present. Bad, but not awful. He seemed to prefer cinnamon and woodsy smells, which again, she'd never complain about. He always smelled like what flannel looked like to her. She loved it.

She wandered over towards the shower gel section, and she scanned her choices of smells. She picked up a lavender and nutmeg gel, and she hummed as she smelled the scent. When it was something she could imagine him liking, she set it in the cloth basket she grabbed as she walked into the store.

Christine stopped and pulled her phone out of her purse, not believing Erik was already done. When it was Meg she took a sigh of relief. One soap wasn't enough. She picked the phone up and held it up against her ear, then went back to smelling soap. "Hey hey."

" _Hey, I got two tickets to this new play that's opening tonight, wanna go_?"

"I'd love to but I can't. Erik and I are in Australia."

" _Oh no shit? What are you guys doing there_?"

"We're just having some time away to take a deep breath after Alexander. I'm getting him a Christmas present right now."

" _A nice leather thong_?"

"No. Still none of that. I'm getting him some soap." Christine giggled when Meg groaned, and held it for a good minute.

" _I don't understand it. That man could pop a hard one over you even if you were covered in shit. He loves you, you love him, why are you holding back_?"

"Because I don't want him to find out his limits with me. Sometimes I don't want to cuddle or kiss, and sooner or later he'll get annoyed by that."

" _So you want to be lazy? I love you but good lord woman. Relationships are meant to be tested! Go back to wherever you're staying and show that man that you want to spend the rest of your life with him. Imagine if he told you that he loved you, but he didn't want to try and test the relationship? That he'd rather not try than try at all in case it ended badly? Would you wait around for a lazy person like that_?"

"I understand your point, but I'm scared of losing him." Christine tossed a cinnamon and brown sugar body scrub since she figured he'd love it once he discovered the magic of sugar scrub.

" _Then go and fuck him, then fight like hell to keep going strong. There is no relationship in laziness._ "

"Why do I have to have sex with him to rekindle our relationship?" She wasn't complaining if she had to, she just didn't see the connection.

" _I figured it'd be a nice way to start back up. You don't have to though. It'd be like hey it's been a bumpy road, I love you, enjoy my vagina_."

"You have a great idea of romantic."

" _Right? You should totally do it though_."

"Do I include the enjoy my vagina part of it, or no?" Christine picked up a bar of goat milk soap, and it was eucalyptus and spearmint which she was always down for.

" _I mean it's up to you. You know what he likes_."

"Yeah. Well I'll take your advice into consideration." She walked over to the cologne section that she caught a glimpse of, and she smelled a coffee container to clear her nose out.

" _Awesome. So where are you guys staying_?"

"This house Erik rented. It has an infinity pool, and it's on a hill looking down on the beach… It's just incredible."

" _I need pictures! I'm expecting pictures when you get back._ "

"You'll get pictures. Promise."

" _Yay. Okay well I'll let you get back to shopping. Enjoy your vacation. Remember, there's no relationship in laziness_."

"I'll remember. Enjoy your play."

" _I shall. Bye_."

"Bye." Christine hung her phone up before grabbing a white citrus and teakwood cologne, and she hummed as she smelled the scent. Her nose tingled so she grabbed a coffee container, and she decided that was the last of the present. She could only get so many soaps before she looked desperate to make up for being such a lame human being. Soap? Even she wanted to punch herself for such a shit present. The depressing part was she knew he was going to get her something insane, and he'd be grateful for her lackluster present. She really needed to step up on her present game. New Year's resolution she supposed. With her presents picked out, she decided to look for some things for herself. She was going to pamper herself if it was the last thing she did.

. x .

Christine and Erik met where they got lunch since Christine took a lot longer than she had planned, but she also spent three hundred dollars in a soap store, but the great thing was: she didn't care! She rarely treated herself, and only part of it was for her anyway. "Ah that's why you were so long."

"Why?"

"You went into that soap shop. Did you get yourself some bubble bath?"

"Yeah and like a bunch of other things. If I'm going to have that tub for three months then I'm gonna use it well. Bath salts, bubble bath, sugar scrub… I'm gonna be soft as fuck."

"You take great pride in being soft don't you?"

"You know it." She hooked her arm through Erik's since they had a ten minute walk back to the house. "Did you have a successful shopping trip?"

"Oh y'know. I'm feeling the hot tub tonight, are you?"

"Uh yeah that sounds good." Erik sighed contently as they waited for the light to change so they could cross the street.


	32. Chapter 32

Pizza, beer and the pool with an ocean view, an evening couldn't get any better. They'd been in Australia for a week, and that's what their evenings had consistently included. Of course the beverage and food changed, but it was still food, drinking and swimming. "I don't know about you, but I want to play Marco Polo." Christine had her head propped up on a pool noodle, and Erik was just floating, rubbing his buoyancy in. She was trying to stay awake, but the sound of the waves were lulling her to sleep.

"Marco Polo?"

"Mhm." She'd been thinking more and more about her talk with Meg, and Christine was getting closer and closer to listening to Meg… despite knowing better.

"Okay that could be fun." Erik flipped over so he was standing, and Christine lost the noodle as she yawned. "I'll be Marco."

"Works for me. Close your eyes." She swam past him to take a sip of her beer, and she frowned when it was warm.

"Five, four, three, two… And… One. Okay Marco."

"Polo." Christine set her beer down and slowly started moving away from Erik.

"Marco." Erik held his hands out before beginning to feel around. Slowly but surely he got more adventurous. Christine did her best to avoid him, but only after her tenth polo Erik suddenly lunged for her. She squealed and pushed herself out of the way, but Erik was faster at recouping so he lunged again. She squealed again as his arms wrapped around her, and she giggled as he opened his eyes.

"Polo." Christine smiled, and Erik chuckled before letting go of her. "So I overestimated my Polo abilities."

"Well I am like a foot taller than you."

"True. I feel like I have the disadvantage in this game."

"You really don't though. You're small and agile, I'm big and not stealthy at all. I'll move and inch and the pool will turn into a wave pool."

"Touché. I guess we both have pros and cons. Okay I'm Marco now." Christine shut her eyes and she smiled when she felt Erik swim behind her. "One, two, three, four… and five. Marco!"

"Polo." She frowned when his voice was in the opposite direction of where she felt him move to.

"Fish out of water!"

"Nope." She turned when it was behind her now, and she was already frustrated.

"Okay I know you're not moving around that fast. What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" She screamed and opened her eyes when his voice was right in her ear, but Erik was five feet away up against the side of the pool. "Hey you're cheating."

"What are you doing and how are you doing that?" Christine swam over to him, and she was relieved when it wasn't some wax dummy or something equally as weird as him throwing his voice around.

"I was a weird kid. I learned how to do ventriloquism."

"I feel like the Marco Polo's rules say no ventriloquism."

"I think the Marco Polo rules don't say anything about it because who the fuck knows ventriloquism?"

"Good point." Christine sighed and looked towards the beach momentarily. "Okay I'll close my eyes and recount."

"Okay." Christine shut her eyes, and she felt Erik walk away since his legs could reach the deep end. Prick.

"One, two three, four, and five. Marco."

"Polo!" Christine swam towards the direction he was in- in hopes of none of the ventriloquism shenanigans occurring.

"Marco!"

"Polo." She turned to the right when his voice was closer to her than last time, but this time it was within reason.

"Marco." She started reaching, and she had a feeling that if she had longer arms she would've gotten him.

"Polo." She pushed off the bottom of the pool, and she suddenly grabbed his leg. She opened her eyes and smiled before swimming up, and Erik was chuckling. "You went for the cheap shot."

"How? I just grabbed the leg that helps you run away."

"Exactly." She giggled and swam away since it was her turn. "Start counting!" She saw an opportunity to make a move, and he shut his eyes and started counting. Christine dove underwater, and she popped up right in front of him.

"Four and five. Marco."

Instead of saying polo, Christine wrapped her arms around his neck so she could push herself up and kiss him. Erik's eyes shot open, and he looked down at her as the kiss continued. He couldn't believe what was happening, but either way he set his hands on her back. She pulled at his hair, then pulled away as Erik smiled. "What? Was it bad? I thought it was pretty good."

"Does this mean…?" Erik was in shock, that was the last thing he'd been expecting that day.

"Take me into your room and you'll find out." She smiled as Erik registered what she said, and when it sank in he held onto her and moved towards the stairs to get out of the pool. He climbed out using the stairs, and went in through the door that led to his bedroom. Christine decided ten seconds was far too long between kissing him, and she kissed him as they fell back onto the bed. They laughed, and hurried to get their bathing suits off.

. x .

"What made you change your mind?" Erik couldn't have felt more at home with Christine in his arms, and Christine shared similar sentiments.

"Meg."

"I'm sending her a fruit basket."

"You do that." She kissed his chest, and Erik tried to keep his excitement to a visible low. "I love you."

"I love you too." Erik pulled her closer, and he kissed her cheek since it was in reach.

"It'll be further down the road obviously, but I still would love to have a family with you."

"Yeah? Well before anything happens this time we're getting married."

"Okay that works for me. Like I said, in a while. Like a year or two. I'm a little gun shy from the first time still."

"Well it's only been three months so it makes sense that you're still a little gun shy. I would be too. I am I guess, I just haven't been thinking about the future in that way since we've been apart."

"Yeah that makes sense." She shut her eyes and sighed, and Erik kissed the crown of her head. It was impossible to not kiss her when it was in reach and he could. She was going to have to deal with random kisses all the time for a while, he had some catching up to do.

"That reminds me, you didn't get the same type of birth control when you went into your doctor a few weeks ago did you?"

"No I have a different one now since I'm scared of the IUD as well as having children."

"Well I'd be more afraid of bad gynecologist's." Erik rolled on top of Christine, and she nodded in agreement while waiting to see what he was planning to do. He dipped down and kissed her, and her breath disappeared along with her ability to do much of anything. He was really good at doing that. She felt his hand roam up her leg, then over her hip and across her stomach so he could grab her breast.

"I hope you don't have any plans for us for the next few days." She eyed Erik's face, and he already seemed happier than he had been since they'd broken up.

"I just expected us to have sex, honestly."

"Good expectations." She giggled as he trailed his kisses down to her chest, then her stomach, and she gasped and pulled at his hair when he reached her thighs. She hated how sensitive they were, but she loved how much Erik used it to his advantage.

. x .

"God why are you doing this to me?!" Christine set her hands on her hips as she bent forward on attempt to her her lungs to stop burning. Her thighs were crying, and she was trying to figure out why she agreed to go hiking with Erik.

"Because there's an end goal!"

"Me dead?!" She looked at Erik who was maybe fifty feet away from her.

"No!" Erik walked back to Christine, and she stood up as he put his hand on her shoulder. "If you do this we'll have sex. Sound good?"

"Boy you'll do something we'll do anyway if I torture myself some more? Sex is working out. Let's go back and do that."

"Or we can go see what I wanted to show you. C'mon." Erik took her hand, and Christine took a deep breath before taking her first step. "Just take it slow. We're in no rush."

"It's Australia! I'm not going to be in this jungle at night."

"It's ten in the morning, and it's probably twenty minutes away from here. We're fine."

"You can kiss my ass. My thighs are not fine. They're burning."

"I'll massage them when he went back to the house." Christine considered that option, and when she remembered some massage oil she bought she was game.

"Oh fine. I won't make you twist my arm."

"That's what I figured."

The two of them continued uphill, despite Christine's body protesting it all, and maybe ten minutes away from where they were going, Christine started to hear the faint sound of a waterfall. She was intrigued to say the least, and when they came across the bottom of a waterfall, she realized they had arrived. She sat down on a nearby rock after checking for any bugs, and she sighed. "I'm not swimming in that."

"Why not?"

"I don't swim in water that could kill me. That shit could have snakes, bugs and anything else in it that I don't want to come into contact with. So I'll just sit here and watch."

"Oh I didn't even think about that. Well let's just sit here and enjoy the view then." Erik sat down next to her, and Christine looked around the area for any signs of other people being there.

"Y'know I could pretty comfortably lay across this rock."

"I haven't showered today."

"Neither have I. I never said I was touching that thing. We both smell right now. It'd be an in and out type situation." Christine demonstrated the in and out motion rather eloquently with her fingers.

"Well when you make it sound oh so sexually appealing, I don't know how I could say no."

"Okay smartass get up." Erik stood up, and he watched as Christine looked around before moving down onto her back and side with her leg up as much as she could manage. Her legs were too weak to walk, let alone hold themselves up in the air. She figured if Erik wanted them up, he could hold them up himself.

. x .

Once they were done tainting the rock, they just sat there, Christine in Erik's lap with his arms around there. They listened to the waterfall while kissing or just staring into eachothers eyes.

They'd been there for three or so hours until Christine caught a glimpse of a snake way too close to them. She screamed, and Erik went from relaxed to nearly pissing himself despite not knowing what was going on. "What the hell, Christine?"

"Snake! I saw a fucking snake we are leaving right now." She held onto this neck as tightly as she whimpered. "Erik get your ass up we're going back to the house."

"Okay fine. Where did you see this snake?"

"Behind you like forty feet."

"Oh shit down we go." Erik stood up with her in his arms, and they started the slow decent down the mountain.

"Don't take this as complaining because it's not, but why are you carrying me?"

"I'm not one to tempt fate. You're slower than me and you saw a snake. I'd prefer to leave sooner rather than later."

"Is someone afraid of snakes?" Christine couldn't help but smile when Erik nodded.

"Why wouldn't I be afraid of snakes? They can kill you. I'd like to live so I avoid them."

"Touché." Christine wrapped her arms around Erik's neck since she had a feeling Erik wasn't going to last the entire walk back to the house, and she wanted to enjoy being carried while it lasted.

. x .

"Jesus Christ that was good for me." Erik set Christine down in the family room, and she was just trying to think of a word to describe just how impressed she was. "I needed that from slacking while you were pregnant and afterwards."

"Are you kidding me? You worked out every morning while I was pregnant unless I was in your bed. You did slack the two months after in New York but you had a good reason."

"Good or bad, I wanna keep this tight." Erik patted his stomach, and Christine shook her head as he continued to struggle for air.

"Are you saying I'm fat?"

"No. But carrying a hundred and twenty pounds down hill for twenty five minutes isn't easy."

"I know I'm just giving you shit." She walked into the kitchen and grabbed two beers from the fridge, and Erik walked up next to her as she popped the caps off.

"Thanks." Erik took the beer from her and she watched when he started to drink, then tipped his head back showing no signs of him stopping. She raised her hand up when he was close to finishing, but he didn't high five her till it was all gone.

"You just chugged-" Christine read the calorie count on her beer so she could accurately annoy Erik. "two hundred and three calories when you could've chugged water for a better effect."

"Whatever." Erik peeled his shirt off, and Christine enjoyed the sweaty skin despite not wanting to touch it. "I'm going to go hop in the pool."

"I might just watch that." Christine followed Erik outside, and she sat down on a lounge chair as he stripped down to nothing, then dove into the pool.

"Come in, the water feels great."

"I'm not in the mood for pool sex. Maybe tomorrow." She smiled when he tossed her his mask, and she caught it instead of dropping it which was a win in her book.

"No pool sex. C'mon get in."

Christine acted like she was considering getting in, and after a respectable amount of time she got up making Erik grin. "Wipe that grin off or I'll do it for you."

"Oh please do." He eyed her as she stripped down, and he grabbed her hips when she slid into the pool. Christine wrapped her arms his neck once she was low enough, and she giggled when he pressed her up against the side of the pool before kissing her. She could use a nice makeout. It'd been awhile since they'd just kissed for awhile. No sex in the near future, just enjoying each other. She pulled at his hair as the kiss deepened, and she enjoyed feeling Erik's fingers dig into her hips.

Erik went to pull away, and Christine kept her hands in his hair. "No no no let's keep kissing. We haven't made out since like the first week we started hooking up. I thought it was nice last time."

"It was nice." He pressed his forehead against hers, and he smiled before he moving his lips back up against hers. She was taken back when he brought tongue in immediately, but she loved it so she didn't mind.


	33. Chapter 33

"Hey, merry Christmas." Christine cracked her eyes open, and she yawned as she looked at the box staring at her in the face. She smiled despite wanting to go back to sleep, and took the box while sitting up.

"Merry Christmas." She yawned again, probably accidentally blasting Erik in the face with morning breath; Erik watched as she unwrapped the box. "I'll get yours in a minute. To be honest I'm still asleep."

"I can tell." Erik smiled when she blushed, and he stared once the box was open, and she picked the bracelet box up, popped it open, and she wasn't surprised when it was a diamond bracelet. She loved it though.

"Oh my god Erik, this is beautiful." She meant to sound as enthusiastic as she felt, but emotions weren't returning to her voice for another half an hour or so. "Thank you." She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips, and Erik took the bracelet from her.

"You're very welcome. I'll put it on for you." He took her right hand and wrapped the bracelet around her wrist, then hooked it on. "There. It matches you."

"Expensive and fabulous?"

"No. You shine when you're happy. Especially your eyes."

"Aw you're so full of shit." They laughed, and she kissed his cheek mid laugh since it was a crime to stop him from laughing. "Seriously though, thank you. I love it." She put her hand over the bracelet before getting out of bed, and she hurried through the house back to her old room, and she pulled his present out of her closet. It felt lame now that they were together, but it was all she had so it was going to have to work.

She ran back to their room, and jumped onto the bed across from him. "I don't need the box, just jump on the bed again."

"You would like that, wouldn't you?" She set the box in his lap, and Erik pulled the bow apart. He was curious, the box weighed at least ten pounds.

"What can I say, my wants are simple."

"Well that's good, because this present is awful." She waited for him to say something when the top was off revealing the soaps, and after smelling the first one he smiled.

"I don't know what you're talking about, this is an amazing gift." Erik smelled the cologne, and two other soaps before setting everything to the side. "It all smells amazing. Thank you." He pulled her over and kissed her forehead, and Christine found it hard to believe he liked the gift.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I love them. I like smelling good so it's perfect."

"Well I'm glad you like it. So what's the plan for today?"

"I figured the usual once we wake up."

"Once we wake up?" She rubbed her eyes and tried to figure out what he meant.

"Well we can go back to sleep now if you want to…"

"Oh that'd be awesome." She fell back down, and Erik set his box on the floor before laying down. "I'm gonna pass the fuck out."

"Yeah it's way too early." She giggled when he pulled her up against his body, and she felt him against her butt making her jump. Morning pokes were still something she was getting used to again.

"I'm getting mixed signals here."

"As you should be." He kissed the back of her neck, and Christine lifted her arm up when she remembered the bracelet.

"I should probably take it off so I don't break it." She unhooked it and set it on her nightstand, then put her arm back over his.

. x .

A month and a half into their Australian vacation, Erik went into town before Christine woke up for the day. He wanted to do something nice for Christine, so he decided to make her favorite dinner at the moment. Grilled scallops over cheesey spinach risotto. Truth be known, it was his favorite too. He found some asparagus to go on the side, along with a bottle of wine. Then of course he grabbed some Lamington's which Christine became addicted to not even two days into the trip.

With the food he needed and some roses, he hurried back to the house and put everything away, and found a vase for the flowers. He was unpacking the breakfast he picked up when he heard a yawn. He looked over towards his room, and a second later Christine came into view. She was rubbing her eyes, but he had to admit, the first thing he noticed was the lack of clothing. "Good morning, Beautiful." Erik walked over to her and pecked her on the lips, and she smiled.

"Good morning. Is that breakfast?" All she could smell was bacon.

"Yes. I ran out and grabbed that so we could have a beach day. Though, with your choice of clothing I'm debating on if I want to do a beach day."

"Oh well it is a private beach."

"I'd need absolute privacy to do what I want to do to you." Erik brushed her hair back behind her ear, and he frowned when she had a small purple and blue spot by her ear. He'd been pretty adamant on making sure not to give her anymore hickies seeing that they were just way too old for them. But it mostly bugged him seeing what she was wanting when it occurred. "Did I do that?"

"I don't know. I mean probably since I can't suck on my own neck, but it's fine. You didn't hurt me in the slightest last night. I enjoyed every second so don't get all sullen."

"I wasn't too rough?" Erik was a team player, so he did what Christine liked since it wasn't like shoving his fist down her throat or something like that, but he hated seeing that she liked to be hurt, and it leave scars.

"No, Erik you were great. You know I'd tell you if you were hurting me." She kissed his cheek, and Erik sighed. "I love you."

"I love you too." He cupped her cheeks, and her eyes fluttered shut when she expected a kiss. She almost considered he wasn't going to kiss her, but finally she felt his lips brush up against hers.

. x .

The beach day ended up being cancelled, but Erik was completely fine with it. He was laying in bed looking at the ring which he'd brought just in case things went his way while Christine was showering. He couldn't decide if he wanted to ask her at that point in the lives. On one hand he wanted nothing more than to take the big step, but he also was content with just being with her, and if asking made her hate him he wouldn't ask ever. "Y'know I really love this house!" Erik was pulled from his thoughts, and he shut the box and shoved it back into the nightstand before Christine came out of the bathroom.

"Yeah?" He watched her dry her hair off as she left the bathroom, and she nodded. "It is a pretty amazing house."

"I love the shower. All those water heads. It's like a massage all over." She tossed the towel on the floor then climbed onto the bed then onto Erik's lap.

"It is. I might put some in my shower in the condo."

"You totally should." She took Erik's hands in hers, and he squeezed her hands. "I'm thinking about buying a car when we get back home. I've always wanted a white convertible Kenta."

"Kenta? Those things are like two hundred thousand dollars. Even I don't buy them." Erik knew she was in a good mood when she was thinking about spending money, but when her eyes were puffy he knew why she insisted on showering alone.

"Well I want one and I have the money, so I think I'm going to do it." She'd gone ten years without touching the money her parents left her, now with no worry about in laws wanting in on it, she was going to spoil herself.

"Go crazy then. Your money your choice." He moved his hands down to her hips, and he stared at a faint hint of a stretch mark, the only physical evidence on her of her ever being pregnant. "I can't seem to figure out your distaste towards clothes lately."

"Easy access."

"That it is. I might just use that easy access in a few minutes. Can't have you being clean."

"No we can not." She smirked, and Erik rolled over her, laying her down in the process. Christine's breath disappeared when he finally kissed her, and she tried to keep calm as his tongue dipped into her mouth.

. x .

Erik woke up early the next morning, and when it was still dark outside he tried to go back asleep. However his attempt was short lived when he felt Christine turn towards him. "Erik? Are you awake?"

"Yeah. What's up?" He tightened his arm around her waist, and she nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck.

"Nothing. I just had a bad dream." She took a deep breath, and she smiled when she smelled the bath soap he'd used the night before. It smelled like the cinnamon and pine soap she'd gotten him for Christmas.

"What was the dream?" Erik didn't like knowing she was having nightmares.

"Just one I have from my parents every once and awhile. Nothing new or unusual."

"How'd your parents die anyway?" He couldn't remember if she'd told him or not, so he assumed she never did.

"The cops are guessing the people broke in, realized people were home and shot them, but I don't think it was a robbery gone wrong. Nothing was missing. Not even my mom's jewelry."

"Hm. That does seem a little strange for someone to break in but not steal anything."

"Right? I think it was premeditated, and sometimes my subconscious thinks there's a chance the killer might be willing to go after me. So I have nightmares of me being shot and dying… I think that's why I nearly finished my major in law. It helped me better understand what happened since I was so young when they died. Now I can look at everything and think about what made more sense."

"Well did your parents have money that didn't go to you?"

"I don't know. I just know about the part that went to me. Raoul's parents kept me pretty sheltered through the entire thing. They treated me really well, then once the investigation was over I became dog shit to them."

"Huh. Well I don't think you're going to die for a very long time. Like sixty or seventy years. So I wouldn't worry about it." He pulled her body closer to his, and Christine hugged his arm once he was settled. "You'll be stuck with me. No worries."

"Damn. I guess I'll just have to suffer."

"Yeah. If I really wanted to make you suffer I could ask you to marry me right now."

Christine sat up and looked back at him, and she felt better when he didn't have a ring or anything. "But you won't, right?"

Erik noticed her reaction, and he decided it was a no go. "No. Why would I do that? That'd be silly."

"You were going to ask me weren't you?" One plus for Christine, Erik was a shit liar.

"Only if you wanted me to."

Christine sighed and rubbed her face since she had a feeling there'd be no sleep for the rest of the night. "Why are you in such a hurry to get married? Don't you want a break after your last marriage?"

"No I don't, because marriage with you will be how a marriage should be. It won't even compare to what we'd have. I love marriage if it's with the person I love."

"Isn't us dating the same thing, just without the ring?"

"No it's not. Besides you're talking about kids down the road already, I'd prefer to be married when we have them."

"I know I'm talking about them, but that's down the road. Not in a year."

"It can be down the road too." Erik sat up, and he took Christine's hands in his. "I'm not proposing with the idea of us running away and eloping. I'm proposing with the idea of us planning a wedding, us living our lives, then finally when we're ready it'll happen. What are you so afraid of?" Erik cupped her cheek, and she sighed and she leaned her head into his hand.

"Raoul and I were great until we got engaged. Then it all went to total shit, and look at where I am now. With a different man in Australia to get over our newborn son dying, Raoul being ancient history. I don't want that with us. I was lucky enough to find you, I don't think I have enough luck to find someone else if we go to shit." Christine leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, and Erik set his hands over the bend of her elbow.

"That was bad timing. You getting engaged didn't break your relationship with him apart, he did. He ignored, neglected and treated you like shit. It was going to happen either way."

"What if you're wrong? I'll lose you and I don't want that in the slightest."

"What if? What if anything. Are you not going to do something because of what if? What if you came for the interview and didn't get the job? That didn't stop you so don't let this. We'll work our asses off if necessary to stay together. Now, if you don't want to get married because you want to wait a while then tell me, but if you're only saying no because you're scared I'll turn into Raoul, don't say no."

"I don't know." She eyed his face, and the hope in his eyes made her want to say yes, but all she could see was them breaking up in a year because of it. She sighed when she realized what her answer was. She couldn't lose him. He was one of the better things to happen in her life. "I love you too much to lose you. I can't." She set her hand over his, and Erik nodded.

"Okay. That's fine. Honesty is good." He tried to think of a way to move past the now awkward feeling. "So I think we should get back to bed. It's only four."

"I know." She sighed and laid back down next to Erik, then she pulled the blanket up to cover them. She looked at the moon coming in through the window, and she tried to find it in her to fall back asleep, but her anxiety wasn't making it seem like a possibility.


	34. Chapter 34

"I needed this." Christine rolled onto her back, then moved her swimsuit bottoms down to help with the tan lines.

"Why? So you can get skin cancer?"

"So I can be less pale, butthole." It'd been a week since their late night talk, which thankfully didn't leave too much awkwardness between them for more than a day or two.

"I prefer pale to cancer ridden." She turned her head towards Erik, and she shook her head when he had his book down and was staring at her butt. She started her period four days ago, so needless to say, they were getting impatient. She had the option, but she drew the line at sex while on her period. Even with condoms.

"Yeah well I prefer less viewable tan lines." She giggled when he slapped her butt, then went back to his book. They finally made it down to the beach, and it was well worth the wait. It was a beautiful day, the waves were plentiful and they both wanted to just do their own things. Erik had a book he'd been wanting to read, and she'd been wanting to grab a tan since winter in New York City was consistently brutal on her skin. Plus with sex off the table they had no reason to stay in the house most of the day.

"I prefer more viewable skin." She shook her head, and Erik set his book down so he could look out into the horizon. The beach truly was one of his favorite places to go. It was just so quaint. It never failed to relax him.

"I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up if I start to brown."

"On it. Enjoy your nap." He poked her butt with his toe, and she closed her eyes despite not being too sure if Erik would actually wake her up.

. x .

Christine was looking for her tablets charger when she pulled Erik's nightstand drawer open. She rummaged around, and stopped when she saw the ring box that she'd been presented with months ago after running away from her and Raoul's wedding. It put her off for a moment, obviously, but then she realized he'd shoved it to the bottom of the drawer, under a layer of items. He'd buried his hopes. She didn't like the symbolism on that one. She sighed as she continued to look at the box, and she surprised herself when she set it back in the drawer on top of everything. It deserved to be there, and she needed to face her fears, but then again, it wasn't like they'd been together for two or three years. That was a normal relationship age before marriage came into the conversation. She had the option to be scared for another year or so. "Hey Christine?"

Christine shut the drawer and looked over at Erik, but he didn't seem worried about her seeing anything. "Yeah?"

"You're about to hear me say something I'd never thought I'd say while sleeping with a woman. That sugar scrub was actually kind of awesome."

"Oh. Isn't it?" She walked over to him, and she smiled while he felt his arm. "I thought you'd enjoy it. So I have something to tell you." She wrung her hands together, and Erik tried figuring out what it was since she was so nervous.

"And that is?"

"I love you, and I don't want you to bury your dreams because I'm timid. I want us both to have our dreams and achieve them, and you can't do that while I cower in a corner over the idea of getting engaged. Now logically, we've technically only been together for five or six months, most of which I was engaged to another man, but I've lived with you for a little under a year, and in that time we did have sex a bunch, and I was pregnant with our son. Most people don't get engaged until more years are under their belt, but I love you, and I'm comfortable with the idea of getting married at this point in our relationship. So if you'll have me and you're interested still, could you maybe ask me again sometime?"

"Uh…" Erik didn't expect any of it, he was just expecting her to ask about dinner or something like that. "I mean yeah of course. I'll… Yeah. Awesome." He rubbed her arm, and Christine could tell he was completely caught off guard.

"Cool. Well I'm going to let you get dressed, I'm going to get back to looking for my tablet charger." She pointed towards the door, and Erik watched her as she left their room. She went across the house into her old room. She pulled her suitcase out, and she rummaged through everything. All she found were old ultrasound pictures that she for some reason thought would be a good idea to bring, a pair of underwear and some souvenirs she'd grabbed for Meg.

She was just about to close up her suitcase when she reached for the photos again, and she sighed when she went through them and reached the ones taken in the hospital. Getting away was great, but her heart was still heavy. She still woke up thinking she'd be pregnant or that Alexander was in the other room sleeping. She just forced herself to ignore it and have a good time. She laid down in the bed, and she nibbled on her lip as she cuddled up against the pillow.

Christine had maybe gone through the stack of pictures four or five times all just to hurt herself, and she stopped and stared at a picture of his feet. It was still the most painful thing she'd ever gone through. How she managed to make it through labor, she wasn't sure. Her heart started racing when she felt the bed move, then Erik's arm move around her waist. "What are you looking for that's making you find so many things?"

"My tablet charger." She sniffed before wiping her eyes off, then moved her hand on top of Erik's.

"You mean the one you have plugged in behind the couch?"

"Uh-" she remembered immediately her sitting down and plugging it into the impossible to see area. "Yeah, that one."

"Well it's behind the couch." He kissed her shoulder as he eyed the photo she was looking at, and the heaviness he'd been trying to avoid the entire trip came rushing back. "I never thought something like that would happen to me. It happened to us obviously, but I wasn't sure if you considered it a possibility or not."

"I didn't. Especially when my pregnancy was going so well, but it wasn't a medical thing which was the real dick punch. He just wiggled around the wrong way. Knowing-" Christine stopped as the tears suddenly swelled up. "Knowing he was suffering inside me and I couldn't do anything nor did I know about it just kills me. It hurt him, he was in pain, and I just don't know how to mentally handle that." She let the tears roll into the pillow, and Erik pulled her closer.

"I know. I promise it'll get better though."

"He was taken from us for no fucking reason. He wasn't sick or anything like that. Maybe if I hadn't laid like I was laying it wouldn't have happened."

"Do you have super powers?"

"What?" Christine looked back at Erik.

"I said do you have super powers?"

"No-"

"Because that was the biggest stretch I've ever seen. If you hadn't been laying a certain way? Christine if you're desperate for someone to blame, I can't help you. What happened happened, it was unfortunate circumstances and bad luck. No one is to blame, so don't go figuring out a way to blame yourself."

"I just wish I had someone to be mad at." She would feel a lot better if she could scream, but, nope. No screaming for her. She wasn't one to scream into the void where it wouldn't go to someone.

"I mean you could yell at me if it'll help."

"No. I'm not mad at you, and I don't want to yell at you."

"Well if you want to yell I'm available."

"Thank you for the offer." She rolled over so she was facing him, and Erik's heart ached when her eyes were red and her cheeks were puffy.

"You're welcome." He wiped her right cheek off since it was easily accessed, then brushed the hair out of her face. "You're the most incredible woman I've ever met." He kissed her forehead, and she smiled when he started rubbing her back. "A little hyperactive," Christine giggled and he couldn't help but smile. "but I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I am pretty hyperactive." She pressed her hand against Erik's chest, and she sighed while feeling his heartbeat. It was soothing to her. "It's amazing how far we've come in a year."

"It really is. It was just yesterday walked into my office and begged me for a job."

"I really did beg. I didn't mean to, I was just desperate. Like really desperate."

"I thought you were just out to prove yourself. Then I realized you were begging, but then I met your fiancé and understood why."

"I was a giant mess. I still am a mess, but not as big of one now."

"We're all messes. Y'know, you helped me get out of my marriage."

"Oh did I?" Christine was happy to hear she helped him.

"Yep. You brought kids back up and I want kids, and she didn't, then she did and I realized I definitely didn't want them with her. Then she thought I was having sex with you, which I wasn't… At the time, and you just kept pushing me to stand up for myself and do what makes me happy."

"I'm so glad to hear I helped you leave that bitch. I can't believe you married her in the first place."

"I can't believe you almost married Raoul."

"Listen, we're here to talk about you, not me." Erik chuckled, and Christine decided to sit up. "I'm ready to move on from all this crap. Aren't you? I'm tired of being sad. I'm tired of crying."

"Uh… Yeah? What crap are you talking about?"

"Maley, Raoul, Alexander and just everything. I want to be happy, and I want to live my life with you. I want a family, I want to be married, just with the right guy! And you're the right guy. Let's get married." Christine smiled, and Erik couldn't figure out what was going on with Christine. Drugs maybe? "I want to be married to you, and I want to have kids and find a nice relaxing place to live that the air isn't pure cancer."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm amazing. I'm just realizing this now. I spend my teens crying over my parents, I spent the last four years in an awful relationship, and now, I'm crying over losing Alexander. I'll always love and remember him, but I'm ready to move on! I'm tired of fucking crying and hating life. Let's go home and get married. Let's see if that couple are really your parents. Let's make the world ours, and show our lives who's boss, because I'm tired of being walked on."

"Are you drunk?" He liked her determination, but she went from no to marriage and anything commitment based and crying, to saying fuck it and wanting to get married.

"Fuck no. I'm just tired. So do you want to marry me or not?" She climbed onto his side, and sat down on his stomach once he rolled onto his back.

Erik sighed and took her hands in his, and Christine waited for a response. "I'd love to. But you deserve a wedding, not eloping."

"Oh fuck weddings." She put her hands on either sides of Erik's head, and he eyed her face for any hint of her lying. "Let's fly to California, find a nice beach, get a person who can marry us and just do it. You have plenty of tuxes and I can fit in most sample dresses with none or a little bit of altering."

"You're serious aren't you?" He was flabbergasted.

"One hundred percent." She moved down so her face was close to his, and he felt his hair raise when he could feel the warmth from her breathing against his. "If you're worried about money I'll sign a prenup, but let's do this."

"I don't know what gave you the idea of me being worried about anything let alone money. But please never say the P word again. If I didn't trust you then it'd be up for discussion, but I do. So if you want to go get married then let's do it. We can leave tomorrow if you want." They still had two more weeks left in Australia, but he figured they could always fly back after getting married.

"Let's do it."

"Alrighty let's do it." Erik smiled when Christine squealed, and he was stopped from talking by her kissing him.

. x .

"I can't believe we're doing this." Christine look out the window in the bedroom of the jet, and they were over the ocean. She was thrilled and couldn't believe it was happening.

"It's pretty insane." Erik pulled the ring out of his pocket, and he tapped Christine's shoulder getting her attention. "This might be something you'd like to have."

Christine looked down at his hand, and she smiled and held her hand up after seeing the ring. "It's such a beautiful ring." She watched as Erik slid it onto her ring finger. She nibbled at her lip once it was on, and Erik took her hands in his. He thought the simple diamond ring suited Christine. It was classic, just like she was.

"Well I wanted something that matched you, so hopefully I did well. You deserve the best, and I will do everything in my power to give you that through our lives."

"Just be yourself." She pecked him on the lips, then Erik cupped her cheeks holding her head where it was at. He deepened the kiss, and Christine felt her head get dizzy as Erik moved over her making her lay down, and she started to unbutton his shirt, which she now understood why he was so adamant on keeping on. "And never stop going down on me."

Erik chuckled, and Christine's body woke up thanks to the vibration it created. "I think I can manage that one." She grinned from ear to ear when he suddenly disappeared under the blankets, and she moved the blanket out of the way when he spread her legs apart.


	35. Chapter 35

They touched down in San Diego, and since it was eleven o'clock at night they decided to sleep, then start their journey the next day. Erik looked for someone who would and could marry them, and Christine went dress shopping. She wanted something simple and the complete opposite of her previous, boring wedding dress, so she was exploring her short dress options since a-line was really her only choice for long dresses.

Thankfully she had plenty of options, but unfortunately almost all of them weren't her style. She found two, both spaghetti strap, the first had a short lace dress, then tooling from the waist down with a slit for the leg, and the second was a simple ivory lace gown and nothing else. It was much more flowy than the first one, but the first one was much sexier. They were both amazing, but she obviously could only pick one. Which was her dilemma. She was leaning towards sexy since it was comfortable too. It also didn't need any altering unlike the more simple one.

So after ten minutes of debating and rationalizing, she picked the sexy one. It was even better when it was fifty percent off, and she got it for five hundred dollars. Now _that_ was a price she could live with.

She was in the middle of getting her hair and makeup done when Erik called, and her heart did flips after seeing it was him. "Hello?"

" _Hey so I found someone who'll marry us. I told him three, is that too early_?"

"No that's great. I'm getting my hair and makeup done now, and I have my dress."

" _Okay awesome. I'll see you at three. I love you_."

"See you at three, and love you too." She hung the phone up, and she had a hard time wiping the smile off her face. She was so glad they were being so careless. It felt good for the first time in a long time to just do and it was so freeing. She felt like a twenty two year old in college with nothing to worry about but herself and the guy she loved.

. x .

With her hair and makeup done, and the dress on, she left for the beach where Erik and the man were waiting for her. Erik looked incredible as always, and Christine as usual had a hard time not blushing thanks to how Erik was looking at her. She took his hand, and the officiant opened his book in preparation. "Wow." Erik couldn't think of anything else to say. She looked stunning, and like she hadn't gone through hell in the past year. She was timeless, and she was his. He couldn't have been more proud to be her's.

"Thank you. You look impeccable."

"Thanks. It's just a suit with a bow tie since I left my actual tux at home."

"Well it looks good. So let's do this." She didn't want to seem impatient, but she wanted to get back to Australia.

"Sounds good to me." They looked at the officiant, and he skimmed the page he was on before starting.

"We are gathered here today to witness the union of Christine Daae, and Erik Dessin, two souls and minds, into one." Christine requested a short and sweet version, but she was hoping she didn't get a long and sweet version. "Do you Christine Daae take Erik Dessin to be your husband?" Short and sweet. She was happy.

"I do." She looked over at Erik when he nudged her, and he was holding a ring for her to take. She slid the ring onto his finger, and she was getting antsy. She was surprised she wasn't nervous, but she did want it to be over.

"Do you Erik Dessin take Christine Daae to be your wife?"

"I do." Erik slid the wedding band he managed to get, on her finger, and she couldn't help but grin. Erik had already beat her to an incurable smile.

"Then, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Christine squealed and jumped onto Erik, and he laughed and grabbed her so she didn't fall before kissing her. Her heart was in her throat and she felt like she was going to vomit, but it was a good vomit, not a bad vomit. "I love you so much." Erik didn't want to let her go, but he wanted to get the license signed so they could get back to Australia.

"I love you too. Let's sign the license and get back to Australia, Beautiful."

"Sounds like an amazing plan." She pecked his cheek, and Erik set her down, and they looked at the officiant who had the marriage license waiting.

"Congratulations you two. Just sign in the places that are blank, and you're officially married." Christine took the pen from the man, and she signed her line, and Erik signed his once getting the pen from Christine. The officiant signed it then dated it, and he sighed before handing the certificate to the couple that couldn't stop smiling. Erik was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened in the last two days, and Christine was just happy to take control of her life for the first time in a while. She went out and did what she wanted instead of waiting. "Good luck, and enjoy marriage."

"Thank you for doing this on such short notice."

"Oh it was no problem at all."

"Um," Christine pulled her phone from her bra and opened the camera up. "Could you take a couple pictures for us? Please?"

"Of course." The man took the phone from Christine, and she and Erik posed for several different photos. She didn't want a bunch, just a couple to remember it from.

"Thank you." She scrolled through all the photos that were taken, and she was pleased with how they all turned out. She wouldn't tolerate blurry wedding photos.

"You're welcome. So I have to get going, but again, congratulations and I hope you two the best."

"Thank you!" Erik and Christine shook the man's hand, and once the man left she set the camera to front facing to take a few more photos of the day.

Christine giggled when she picked the marriage license up, and Erik picked her up and carried her up to the street, and set her in the back of the car. He hurried around to the other side and got in, and he was kissing her before he could even get his door shut all the way. Once the door was shut the car started to move, and Christine nearly fell over, but Erik caught her before she could.

"Why thank you."

"You're welcome m'lady." Erik realized the privacy screen was open, so he quickly rectified that situation and shut it. With more privacy he kissed her again, except this time he let his hands roam from her arms down to her butt. "I can't wait to get back to the jet." He slapped her butt, and she bit at her lip since she knew that was something he enjoyed seeing her do.

"Me either. I'd do it right now but I'm awful at being quite so it'd be pretty awkward for the driver."

"You do like to scream." She blushed, and Erik cupped her cheeks before kissing her once again. He had his entire life to kiss her, but he felt like even that wasn't enough time.

. x .

Christine ran into the jet once the car stopped, and since they'd slept in the jet the night before all their stuff was packed, and thanks to a quick phone call to the pilot, it was ready to go once they got there. Erik followed behind her, slapping her butt every time he'd catch up to her. "I can't believe we did that! It's so crazy I fucking love it." Christine set the marriage license down on the table before grabbing Erik's jacket and pulling him towards the bedroom.

"I'm pretty amazed we did that too." Erik chuckled when she pulled him into the bedroom and pushed him onto the bed, and she happily fell on top of him. "Your dress is amazing by the way. I don't think I told you at the beach."

"Oh thank you. I got it on sale for five hundred dollars. It made it extra pretty to me."

"Just being on you makes it extra pretty for me." Erik unzipped the back of her dress, and she was about to take his jacket off when his phone started ringing. She groaned and sat down on his lap, and he answered the call when it was Nadir. He put it on speaker because holding a phone to his ear was just too much work. "I swear to God it better be good."

" _It is. So in three weeks you have to go to Mario Kessur's birthday party. It slipped through the cracks and his assistant just called me asking if you would be going or not. I told him yes since I know you like working with Mario._ "

"Fuck okay that's fine. A text would've sufficed." Erik threw his head back when Christine slid her top down and took her bra off to get him off the phone. "Are we done now?"

" _Yeah that's it. I'll let you get back to who you're doing_."

"Ha funny. Talk to you later." Erik hung the phone up and tossed the phone onto the floor. He sat up, and Christine smiled when he pecked her on the lips before kissing at her neck.

"Took you long enough."

"It was a minute." He stood up with her, then set her on the bed so he could be on top of her. "Thank god we have an eight hour flight ahead of us. I need at least four for what I want to do."

"Don't tease me." She frowned, and he kissed her to wipe the frown away.

. x .

Christine couldn't believe how fast time went. Just three weeks ago they got married, and it felt like three days ago they first got to Australia. Now she was getting ready to go to a celebrity and business man's birthday party while being married to Erik. They'd never been out in the public eye before, so she was nervous. She knew because of the mask his relationships for a few days would be in the gossip magazines, but she couldn't stand the idea of someone talking shit about her because she was with him, or insulting her because they were jealous or thought she was a gold digger.

She wore a strapless black lace gown with a sweetheart neckline, black pumps and a diamond necklace, bracelet and earrings. She'd never dressed so nicely for a birthday before, but according to Erik the man was rather full of himself. Even in D.C. she wore a cocktail dress, so this was new to her. She curled her hair since it was still freezing even though it was April, and she donned a smokey eye to finish the look off. She'd never been to such a high scale party, so she was admittedly nervous.

She was switching over to a black clutch when Erik walked into her room, which still had all her stuff in it since she was too lazy to move it all into his room. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yeah I'm just moving bags." She glanced over at him and smiled when he was in his tux. "You look handsome."

"And you look stunning. I'm gonna have to bring a bat to keep the other guys off you."

"Low key that's what this is for." Christine shut the clutch before holding it up, and Erik chuckled. "Just whap them with it. It's classier than a bat. So like are there going to be cameras there?"

"Yeah but only at the beginning. This guy is a movie star so he's gotta have a red carpet. Oh well, he gives me money so I'll let him be a self absorbed kid."

"What do I say if I'm asked a question? I don't want to say something wrong." She couldn't help but start to wring her clutch in her hands, and Erik could tell how nervous she was.

"We're married, we met at work, we started dating _after_ the divorce was finalized and we never hooked up during the divorce. That's all the lies you have to worry about. If it's a question you don't want to answer politely decline. Just remember I'm taking you to a party and you have a ring on so you'll probably get some attention while it's interesting."

"I can't imagine why you wearing a mask makes you celebrity gossip, and why people are interested in your relationships."

"Well I'm the youngest self made millionaire, I wear a mask and some find my uncovered face attractive. I guess they want to see what's under the mask, so they follow me around in hopes of seeing it."

"What if they ask about your mask? Can I decline that or am I honest that I've seen your face?"

"I'd decline it. I always decline unless I'm drunk, then I joke around. Like one time I said that it was on because it looked like the guy's mother, another time I said it was because I was too pretty for the world, and another time I said it was because it looked like my ass but not as nicely shaped."

"Well those are all great answers." She crossed her arms, and Erik walked up to her so he could rub her shoulders. "What if Raoul sees the photos?"

"What does it matter? You're not in a relationship with him and he hates you. We can't hide forever to spare him."

"I guess you're right." She sighed and blushed when Erik pecked her neck. "Let's get going. We don't want to be late."

"No we do not." Erik grabbed Christine's shawl and draped it across her, then followed her out of the room. He just wanted to get the night over with.


	36. Chapter 36

Christine felt like she wanted to puke the entire drive to the party, and when the car rolled to a stop, and there was an entire red carpet she wanted to scoff. It was an ego factory for rich people, but her ass looked good and her outfit was on point so she'd let her ego get a little boost. She could use it after the last six months. "You ready?" Erik put his hand out for her to take, and she nodded as the door opened. She immediately needed sunglasses for all the camera flashes. She had to remind herself that it was in fact a movie star's birthday party, and not an older business man's party like the last one they had gone to. Erik got out of the car, and he took her hand in attempt to help her out. Once she was out the flashes increased tenfold, and it worried Erik. "Don't worry, you won't be blind permanently."

"Oh that's reassuring." Erik smiled as she hooked her arm through his, and they walked up onto the curb, and onto the ego carpet. Having people take her photo was exhilarating, she almost immediately understood celebrities obsession with it. "What's the point of them taking pictures again?"

"Money."

"Oh that's right. I forgot that people got paid to stalk people." She found the process rather repetitive, smile, wait a minute, walk another ten feet and repeat. She was thankful for the lack of questions though. That was where her nerves mostly originated. "I really need a drink."

"Yeah a drink doesn't sound too bad right now." Erik moved unhooked his arm and moved his hand down to the top of her butt, and she immediately blushed. "I'm feeling generous tonight."

"I can tell." She glanced to the side and her heart dropped when there was a woman with a video camera and microphone at the end of the carpet, and there was a man she didn't recognize talking to her.

They finished the photos, and traded two hundred flashing lights for one bright light on the video camera. The woman, Christine immediately recognized as Trish from the N Network, smiled at them. Christine took the opportunity to let her cheeks rest. She wasn't used to so much smiling. "Hi there, Erik how are you doing tonight?"

"I'm doing great. Thanks for asking." Erik looked down at Christine who was rubbing her cheeks and letting them rest.

"So after kind of disappearing for almost a year, how does it feel to be back in the spotlight?"

"It's alright. Seeing that I didn't pick a profession that red carpets were a common thing, it's still a little confusing as to why I'm in it, but I try to have fun."

"Well we missed you. Obviously Maley is no longer in the picture, so who is this beautiful woman?" Christine realized she was being talked about so she stepped next to Erik and smiled. Her cheeks were sore.

"This is Christine. We just got married a couple weeks ago, so we're enjoying that."

"Well you sure did move on fast."

"I'm legally obligated not to say anything bad about my ex, but let's just say it was easy."

"Of course. So Christine, how do you like knowing you scooped up one of the most sought out business men in New York City? I mean he went from being married to being the top bachelor, to married again."

"I honestly don't know. I never thought about him being as large of a catch as you just set him up as. I don't mean that in a "he's not that good" way, but just that, he's for a lot of our relationship, just been Erik to me. He's not been the giant, powerful business owner everyone sees him as once we were together for a few weeks. So until about now, I just knew I managed to pin down this amazing, successful man. But thinking about it, I enjoy knowing I got him. It means I'm doing something right." Christine smiled at Erik, and she blushed when he leaned down and pecked her on the lips.

"I love you."

"I love you too." She tried not to get shy at Erik's PDA seeing that they were in fact being filmed.

"You two are so fricken adorable, it's ridiculous. We'll have fun, enjoy the party, and congratulations on the marriage."

"Thank you." Erik took Christine's hand as they walked away from the carpet, and towards the entrance to the building. "See? That wasn't too bad."

"Once I can see I'll comment."

"Give it five minutes." He kissed her cheek, and they walked to the back of the building to an outdoor patio that faced the Hudson. Erik smiled politely to several people while grabbing two glasses of champagne from a waiter walking by. "So, now that the bullshit is over, let's have a fun night."

"I mean a fun night is more like a hair tug and ass slap, but this works too." Christine watching Erik in his work mode turned her on for some reason, but unknown reasons or not it was happening.

"Well don't get too drunk and you know what'll happen later." He squeezed her butt and her heart started racing. She was on cloud nine.

"Don't get too drunk? You realize you're talking to an alcoholic, right?"

"Good point. Well once I know no one is looking for me there's bathrooms."

Christine looked up at Erik, and she couldn't mean what she was about to say any more than in that moment. "I love you."

"I love you too." Erik sighed and smiled, and Christine looked towards where he was looking, and a man and a woman were approaching them. "Francis, Heather, how are you?"

"Oh we're excellent, thank you. We know how much you love talking, so we thought we'd come over and meet this beautiful woman. Knowing you you'd keep her hidden all night." Christine smiled at the compliment, especially when it was from a woman Christine couldn't even dream of looking like.

"Well you know me. I'm selfish like that. But this is my wife Christine. Christine this is Francis, an old investor of mine, and his girlfriend Heather."

"It's a pleasure." Christine shook their hands, and she held her comment in when Heather smelled like cinnamon and flawlessness. She may have been dealing with a small crush.

"Likewise. So when did you two get married?" Heather smiled, and Christine hated how straight and white her teeth were.

"A couple weeks ago. It was a small and private wedding in California. Nothing spectacular, but it was ours and that's all that mattered." Christine smiled and rubbed Erik's back, which got him back from zoning out.

"Small? Private? With Erik's last wife I didn't think he was capable of either of those." Francis, who'd yet to say anything finally chimed in.

"Well while he might be legally obligated not to say anything bad about her, I'm not. She was was only with him for his money, which I guess was good for me since it freed him up for me to swoop in." She hugged Erik's arm, and Francis smiled at the couple.

"I knew she was up to no good from day one, but Erik wouldn't listen to me."

"Listen she'd have sex with me, and at that point I figured that was all I'd be able to get in life."

Francis sighed and shook his head. "Drama queen. He's always been one."

Christine giggled as Erik scoffed in attempt to dispute the claim. "He really is! I love it though. It makes boring situations fun."

"Listen, if you guys are going to talk crap about me I'm going to go use the restroom." Erik squeezed Christine's hand before leaving the conversation, and she smiled.

"So, how long have you known Erik? Obviously quite a while."

"I was one of his first investors. I would still be one but after two thousand eight I decided to taper back the amount of money I invest, and he needed more than I could offer. Good for him though, it's amazing watching his business grow and blossom from the little two man business it started as."

"Oh wow that's amazing. So was it just him and Nadir there?"

"Yes. Nadir was primarily marketing while Erik produced the products." Francis sipped at his wine, and Christine decided it was a good time to take a drink as well. She was too sober to make small talk.

"So how did he and Maley meet? Do you know? He doesn't talk about much from that time period." She shifted on her feet since she'd hoped she'd be sitting by that point in time.

"He told me that they met at a party. Lord knows if that's true."

"What? Maley has friends that invited her to a party?" Christine wasn't being mean, she was genuinely perplexed.

"That's why I think he's lying."

Christine giggled, and she tried to keep focused when she noticed a couple celebrities across the room. "So do parties like this happen often?"

"Not really. I mean there's galas where we build each other up and stuff like this, but this is obviously a lot more public because the birthday boy is a movie star, and invited other movie stars. So when it's strictly business people, it's a lot more private."

"That's a relief. I don't think I could handle the this type of party very often."

"It's definitely overwhelming." Someone called Francis' name, and Christine sighed with relief. She was awful at conversing. "Well if you'll excuse me my friend needs me. Enjoy the evening, tell Erik I said goodbye."

"Of course. Thank you." Christine smiled at Heather, and once they were gone she downed her champagne. She was looking around for another glass when she found an open bar. Naturally, she decided to move towards it.

Just as she got to the bar, she felt someone grab her by her shoulders and turn her around. "Let's avoid the hard liquor tonight, yeah?" She frowned then smiled since Erik was back, but she was still disappointed. She wanted hard liquor.

"But-"

"There are tons of cameras here tonight, I don't think you want to get drunk. Let's just stick to champagne." He rubbed her arm, and Christine sighed since she knew he was right.

"Fine. No hard liquor." She crossed her arms and looked around the area, and she found the decorations rather beautiful. There were white Christmas lights everywhere, and sheer white fabric, then some space heaters which she appreciated. "I'm just so bad in social situations like this. What if I say something wrong? What if I embarrass you?"

"Don't worry, you've got this." He kissed her cheek, and Christine turned so she could lean against his chest. She lightly patted his shirt, then smiled before looking up at him.

"I can't tell you how much I love and appreciate you."

"You don't have to. I know." Erik rubbed her cheek, and before she could get distracted by something he bent down and kissed her. It was a lot easier on his back since she had heels on, but it was still a little way to travel.

. x .

Parties sober, Christine discovered, were painfully boring. She got to sit and watch other people be drunk, but she really didn't want to be known as the new, drunk wife of Erik Dessin, so she behaved. Plus she really needed to work on her drinking. It wasn't the healthiest habit to get into. She considered yoga, maybe a spinning class. Something that'd keep her ass in shape instead of killing her liver. Though, being sober didn't stop her from flirting with Erik the entire night. "Guess what." She was sitting on his lap, her arms draped around his shoulders.

"What's that?" Christine had been teasing him since they got to the party, and two hours in he wasn't sure how much more he could handle.

"I'm not wearing any underwear." She grinned, and Erik was disappointed. She definitely saved the least interesting for last.

"Since when is underwear a problem for me? I've made it relatively clear I'll rip that shit off if I have to."

"Well all you have to do now is rip my dress off when we get home." Christine kissed him, and she giggled when he pinched her butt.

"While that's amazing news, your little college story was a lot more torturous to sit through than knowing you're not wearing any underwear."

"Yeah well aren't you a party pooper." She frowned, but when Erik kissed her she was forced to smile. She just loved the tingling it gave her in the pit of her stomach. Once the kiss was over Christine blushed. "So you were forced to come to this party since you like the guy, but I've yet to see him. What's up with that?"

"He's busy talking to guests who will bitch if he doesn't talk to them at least once."

"Oh… So you're a low maintenance guest?"

"Incredibly low since I don't want to be at the party in the first place."

"Good point." She kissed his cheek, and Erik caught a glimpse of someone he didn't want to see ever again, let alone that night. He was having fun, he didn't want it to be ruined. "So how long till we can go? I mean parties are fun when I can drink, but I can't drink so I'm kinda bored besides teasing you."

"If you want to drink you can, I just figured you'd prefer not looking like an idiot in front of a bunch of cameras."

"No your assumption is correct." She combed her fingers through his hair, and when Erik's night ruiner started to walk towards Christine and him, Erik kissed her in hopes of them leaving the two of them alone. Christine was caught off guard when he proceeded to rub her cheek and deepen the kiss. She squeaked when his tongue grazed against her lips, and after the initial shock wore off she embraced the kiss. She just couldn't believe that he was doing such an intense display of PDA. Overwhelmed by the rush of having a tongue take part in a kiss in public, she was breathless once the kiss was over. Then with the adrenaline, hormones and somewhat of a buzz, she let something she'd been contemplating for a few months slip. "I want to have another baby with you."

Not absorbing what she said, he just started talking. "Yeah?" Christine nodded, and Erik froze and looked down at her when it hit him. "Wait what?"

"What?" Christine was surprised by his reaction if she were being honest.

"Hi you two."

Christine turned when she heard Raoul's voice, and Erik completely forgot about the Lawyer when Christine mentioned another kid. "Raoul? What are you doing here?" Christine didn't like seeing him, it made her uneasy.

"My boss is friends with the birthday boy. Guess you and I have that in common."

"So you're fucking your boss too? Besides him being a sixty year old man you've managed to pick a really good rebound." Erik felt a swell of pride when Christine giggled.

"Very funny. I see you're still ugly."

"Yeah but the difference between personality ugliness and vanity ugliness, is Christine doesn't see mine when she's sitting on my face."

"Erik." Christine swatted his shoulder, she wasn't sure why, she liked watching testosterone fueled battles.

"Yeah, Erik. Maybe don't treat her like she's a piece of meat. So how's the baby, Christine?" Raoul could be rude, but he had to admit he was curious. Christine looked at the table once Alexander was mentioned, and she grabbed Erik's wine glass so she could chug it down. "Pain in the butt?"

"He," Christine set the now empty wine glass down back down on the table. "didn't make it. We lost him at thirty weeks. Umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and he died." Christine picked her glass up, and drank it all, but it still wasn't enough. She needed something stronger. She eyed the glass in Raoul's hand, and when it looked like tequila she wondered if she could get it from him. "Is that tequila?"

"Christine." Erik ran his hands down her arms to her hands in attempt to bring her back, and she looked at Erik and nodded.

"You're right. I need to not drink. That's not a good way to deal with my pain." She sighed, and Raoul caught a glimpse of wedding rings.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, truly. You guys might be assholes but no one deserves that."

"I feel like your assessment of who is and isn't assholes it a bit unreliable seeing that you think mistreating, neglecting and hating your fiancée is perfectly fine in your books." Erik smiled at Raoul despite his annoyance.

And that's when Christine decided it was as entertaining as it was going to get. "You two need to stop it. We're all assholes, that will never change so just move on. If you're here to talk shit just leave. Erik and I were talking, and we're personally invited guests so we have more of a right here than you. Especially since we're not trying to start anything."

"Oh personally invited guests? A few months in the lap of luxury and you turn into snob."

"Dude, I am not a snob, I just know this little back and forth will get boring after awhile. A year after I left your ass at the altar and you're still bitter and single."

"I'm not bitter. I have every right not to like you two. And yeah, I'm single? So what. I wouldn't be giving me shit, because he's going to get bored of you soon and then you'll be single too."

Christine laughed as she rubbed her forehead, and Erik was zoned out staring at her breasts. "Raoul, we're married. He and I are in it for the long haul, and if you're even paying a sliver of attention as to what he's zoned out staring at, he's not going to get bored of me anytime soon. Besides, single and rich in New York? Sign me up."

"He didn't make you sign a prenup? Damn what a moron. Good for you, stupid of him."

"What? No I wouldn't take his money. I have my _own_ money that I didn't tell you about, because my parents lawyer thought your parents would take it from me, which I wholeheartedly agree with now."

"Again with my parents. They aren't assholes."

"Well apparently my parents lawyer thought they were because he was the one who told me to keep it hidden from you guys. Now Erik and I were having an important discussion, could you please leave us alone?" Christine tried not to smile when she felt Erik's hand move to her butt, and he started rubbing it. He was still in shock over what Christine said. He was… Nervous? Mostly nervous. It hadn't even been a year, he figured she was interested in waiting at least a year. Now, he wanted kids, but he didn't want them if it meant Christine was rushing in hopes of achieving some goal he wasn't aware of yet.

"Enjoy your life of being a bitch."

"Enjoy your life of not getting laid." She smiled and waved at him, and once Raoul was gone she sighed and looked back at Erik who was still zoned out. "Hey, you alright?" She grazed her thumb against his cheek, and that got him to refocus again thankfully.

"Yeah I'm fine. Did the asshole leave?" He looked around, and when the Lawyer wasn't in sight he decided to return to their conversation from before being interrupted. "So you want to start trying for another baby? I thought you wanted to wait a year or so before doing that."

"I mean I do but I don't. I really want kids and we're not getting younger. I mean I'm twenty eight, you're thirty two, we're getting older. I don't want to wait till I'm thirty and you're nearly forty to bring a baby into our lives."

"I know, but I feel like our ages aren't the only thing making you think this. What are you wanting to achieve? Are you hoping a baby will help with the pain of losing Alexander? Or something like that?"

"I mean that'd be nice but I'm not expecting it. I don't know, I mean we were ready for one with Alexander, I just feel like now is a good time. If you don't agree then just tell me." She watched as he continued to rub her butt, and when he sighed she held her breath.

"I mean… If you're ready I'm ready."

"You're lying." Christine could tell, there was something he was hesitant about, but he obviously wasn't going to say it.

"Will you let me explain fully before getting mad?"

"Promise." Christine was officially concerned.

"Well," he sighed as he tried to figure out the best way to put what he needed to say. "with becoming a parent comes tradeoffs. No sleep, no _private_ time, no random trips to other countries, things like that. Now, with Alexander we were kind of shoved into accepting those tradeoffs, but now we have the chance to choose. I know you like sleep and private time, and random trips to other countries can be a regular thing if you want it to be, but with a baby those will go away. Are you ready to give those up? I know I enjoy them quite a bit. So I personally am at a roadblock, because I _do_ want to be a father but I don't know if I'm done being selfish."

"Those are good points. Honestly, I didn't mean to say that. So let's just talk about it later, and see what happens, because I'm at that roadblock too. I like focusing on just you and I, but I know I do want a family." She pulled at the hair on the nape of his neck, and he nodded since that wasn't a conversation he wanted to have in public.

"Sounds good. So after all that, would you like to dance? This is in fact, my song." Christine giggled when it was some pop song she'd yet to hear, but she didn't really listen to much on time. She had the music she liked, and she didn't really venture out.

"I would love to." She got up, and she took his hand as he stood. She laughed when he started to bob his head.

"I'm going to be one hundred percent honest, I don't know this song."

"I am shocked." Erik pulled her into the crowd, and Christine tried to dance after he grabbed her hips. Dancing in public only happened when she was drunk. She was still in fact, not drunk.


	37. Chapter 37

"Hey Erik, come with me." Christine had gone to the restroom and made some friends, and she wanted him to meet them.

"Where are you taking me?" Erik followed her inside and to the women's restroom door, where he stopped as she pushed the door open. "I don't think I should go in there."

"Inside, now." She pulled him inside and it immediately smelled like weed to him. He walked around the corner, and he awkwardly waved as Christine moved up next to him. "So this is Fierra Kars, she's in Love Kills, this one soap opera that you've probably never seen, Hannah Astertol she is Fierra's best friend and makeup artist, then Brittany Miller, she is also in Love Kills. So anyway, I wanted to smoke but I didn't want to leave you out so here we are. I don't know if you smoke. Do you smoke?"

"On the rare occasion. Which means I've smoked five times in my life, all in high school."

"Oh well same here, except I continued into college. It's been a couple years." Christine pulled a twenty out of her clutch and handed it to Fierra, then took the joint from her. Erik watched as Christine took a hit, then handed the joint to him before letting the smoke out.

"How did you manage to do all this and pee in two minutes?" Erik held the smoke in for a few more seconds, then blew it out away from everyone.

"I am a very fast talker, plus I'm a lot more normal when I'm high than when I'm drunk. I'm bored at parties when I'm sober and don't know anyone. But here I am making friends thanks to my problems."

"You know, you look familiar." Christine wasn't sure what Hannah meant by that. Christine had no way to look familiar to those women.

"I'm not sure how. I've never been to a party like this before." She smoothed her dress out while shifting on her feet.

"I'm not sure. Have you been on a magazine or something? Fierra, do you know?"

"It was a video I think." Fierra gave the joint to Hannah so she could get her phone out of her purse, and Christine was growing nervous.

"I've never been in a video before." Christine took the joint from Hannah, and after taking another hit gave it back to Erik.

"I think Erik was in it too."

"Was it that night we got drunk and watched those videos?" Fierra squinted while looking up, almost like she was thinking.

"You know I think it was. Never mind, it wasn't you guys." Fierra put her phone away, and Christine felt like they weren't telling them something.

"What videos?" Christine coughed after holding the smoke in for too long, but her attention remained on Hannah and Fierra.

"Just some videos on the Internet. It wasn't you two though."

"Okay." Christine decided not to push further, they obviously weren't going to share.

Once the joint was gone they left the bathroom, and Christine headed straight for the snack bar. She was hungry before, so smoking didn't help her with that problem.

. x .

"Oh my god!" Christine snorted as she laughed, and she fell into the limo, Erik hot on her tail. "I can't believe you did that!" She moved out of the way, and once Erik was in he shut the door.

"Why? Like he was going to finish all that cake." Erik set his plate with three slices of cake on it next to him on the seat, then he moved over across the limo to Christine, moving over her in the process.

"You're such a dork. We could've gotten fresh cake."

"I'm not one for wasting cake." She giggled, and he ran his hand down her leg, stopping once he couldn't go any further down.

"I need more booze to have sex in a limo." Christine tried to keep a straight face when he froze and sat up.

"Are you kidding me?"

She snickered making Erik laugh and move back down onto her, and bite at her boob. She squealed, then pulled his head down so she could kiss him. Erik started to bunch her dress up, and she focused her vision when it blurred. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Yeah it's a great idea." Erik wasn't in the best state of mind to be making such important judgement calls, so he tried to think as if he wasn't high, and his high mind trying to think like his sober mind didn't see any potential problems.

"You better be right." She unbuckled his belt, and they kissed as she undid his pants.

. x .

"Good luck." Christine pecked Erik on the cheek, he was leaving to go do the DNA test, something that made him so nervous he had hard liquor before four in the afternoon. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"Thank you, and yeah. I should be fine. Just the swabbing today."

"Oh well, still, good luck. Tell Rick I said hi."

"Please don't get attached to him, if this ends up being a fluke then he's not going to be staying around." He sat on the corner of her desk, and Christine nodded.

"I know, but I really want this to be real. You deserve it. To have a family, a big family at that that like you and have a history of not trying to kill you."

"What if they don't like me? I'm kind of an asshole."

"Well don't be that protective shell asshole you like to pretend to be, and be like you are with me. You're not an asshole, that's your cop out so you don't have to try. So try." She straightened his tie, then grabbed a potato chip out of the bag next to her. It was lunch time, which was the only reason Erik was in her office kissing her.

"I'll work on it. I'll be in between today so the wife doesn't hate me but doesn't think I'm being so nice that I have to be her son."

"Just be nice. You know hard losing Alexander was for me, imagine what it would be like for her. Three years with her boy just to have him stolen right from under her, then to have to live knowing he might still be alive… That's awful."

Erik sighed as Christine ran her hand over Erik's thigh. "I know." He grabbed her hand with his and gently squeezed it before leaning over in front of her. "Hi."

"Hi." She smiled, and Erik kissed her before anything else could be said. She ran her fingers through his hair, the feeling of his hair rubbing up against the insides of her fingers. It almost tickled. "I still can't believe we're married." She ran her thumb across his jawline, and when he smiled her stomach did a flip.

"I know. Neither can I... I should get going, I'll see you in an hour or so."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too." He gave her one last kiss before sitting up and getting off her desk. Christine froze when there were a good twenty five people outside her office looking in, and once Erik turned around he stopped. "Well," he cleared his throat and fixed the sleeves on his shirt. "I guess the cats out of the bag."

"Mhm." She grabbed her sandwich as Erik left her office, and everyone started asking him questions once the door was shut. Christine giggled as he put his hands up and hurried away, which left them to bug her if they chose to. Thankfully everyone seemed to have lost interest and returned to their desk for the second part of the work day.

. x .

Erik walked into the doctor's office, and he regretted not wearing his jacket, he wanted something to fiddle with. He walked over to Rick who was sitting next to who Erik assumed was his wife, and they stood after noticing him. "It's good to see you again, Erik."

"Likewise." Erik shook Rick's hand while trying to ignore the awkward staring the wife was giving him. "I don't think Rick ever told me you name. You are?"

"I'm Patrice. It's so nice to meet you, and thank you for humoring us, I know you're busy so it means a lot."

"It's no problem at all. We would've gotten this done sooner, but my wife and I went down to Australia for a few months to get away from life, and we just figuring waiting till after we got back would be best. You guys came into my life at an interesting point."

"Wife?" Rick was amazed at the one eighty Erik and Christine had done in such a short time.

Erik nodded, and Rick seemed… Surprised. "Yeah. Christine and I got back together and she decided she wanted to elope. So we flew to California, got married then went back to Australia for a short three week honeymoon."

"That sounds lovely. Well congratulations."

"Thank you." Erik smiled and the three of them sat down since standing wasn't too necessary.

"Where is your wife today?" Erik looked over at Patrica as he pulled his phone from his pocket when he felt it buzz twice.

"She's at work. She wanted to come but I figured it's just mouth swabbing today. No need for a big audience."

"Oh that makes sense. What's your wife's name?"

"Christine. She's amazing, you'll love her if you get to meet her." Erik tried to stop smiling, but just thinking about her made him forget about his problems. Smiling was an automatic reaction that he hoped would never go away. He finally looked down at his phone, and when it was Christine texting him he leaned at an angle so no one could eavesdrop if they decided to. He was confused when it was just the smiley face emoji, but then he scrolled down and had a heart attack when it was a photo of her in his office naked. He felt it was somewhat impractical, but he liked it. He started to text back, obviously, a fool would leave her waiting after that, but he liked to think that he wasn't a fool. "I expect to come back to this scene still occurring." He locked his phone and started wiggling his leg. He was officially impatient.

It buzzed, and he unlocked his phone to a new text. "It's cold though :("

"I'll help warm you up." He didn't even bother putting his phone away, Christine was obviously trying to kill him, but he was all for it.

"Well in that case..." Erik waited for the next text to come in, but instead it was another photo, but this one was of her sitting in his chair, still without clothes to his delight. Before he could manage a word let alone a sentence, another photo came in with her legs spread apart. He locked his phone and sighed as he rubbed his eyes. He was completely taken back, she showed no hints towards being in that mood before he left. Had she he wouldn't have been so… Flustered.

"How long have you guys been here?"

"For about ten minutes. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah no everything is fine. I just- my assistant was asking my ETA for some paperwork that needed to be finished before he left for the day, but we have plenty of time." He unlocked his phone and tried to think of a deserving response. It'd been awhile since they'd texted like teenagers so he was admittedly a bit rusty. Suddenly he became too curious for his own good. "Not complaining, but what possessed you to go to my office and get naked?" He felt like he was going to regret asking that question.

"Because I miss you. Plus it's been way too long since you've taken me from behind. I love it when you slap my ass and make me scream." Erik went to bite his fist, but stopped himself and just sighed while trying not to whimper.

"If you keep doing this to me I'll do a lot more than that."

"If you're trying to get me to stop that's doing the complete opposite." Erik held his breath when a string of pictures came over. It hurt, but thankfully before he could respond a nurse came out calling Rick's name. The three of them stood, and Erik fiddled with his sleeves as they headed back into the office. They were taken to a small room, where the three of them sat back down. The nurse shut the door and started pulling supplies out of the drawers.

"So DNA test, and you wanted mouth swabs right?"

"Yes." Erik didn't want to do needles or anything like that, mostly because he was a chicken shit who could face anything but needles.

"Alrighty. First victim open their mouth please." The nurse finished opening the packets up for the swabs, and she grabbed the first one and went up to Rick. Patricia went next, then finally Erik. He figured there would be more after the swabs, but apparently that was it. "So we'll send these off, it usually takes around two weeks to get the results back." The nurse continued labeling the tubes with their names. "We'll get back to you once they get back to us."

"Awesome thank you." Erik stood up along with Rick and Patricia.

"Of course. Enjoy the rest of your days."

"You as well." Erik opened the door and once Rick and Patricia were out he fixed his tie… He was a fiddler. He realized that. "So call me when the results come back, alright? I have to get back to work before the whole office goes up in flames because I'm gone."

"Right, well I'll talk to you in two weeks. Tell Christine I said hi and congratulations."

"Of course, thank you again. It was a pleasure meeting you Patricia."

"Likewise." Erik smiled before they walked out, and Erik was impatient the entire elevator ride.

. x .

"I feel like your dick may have entered my cervix at least once."

"I don't think that's possible." Erik laid his arm over Christine, who was currently laying on top of him since they had the couch to work with in terms of laying in his office.

"You might have proved yourself wrong before you knew you were wrong." Erik chuckled as she turned her head to the right. "I guess I should get back to work."

"How many do you have due today?"

"Hmm…" Christine tried remembering what was on her log, and she could really only think of one. "I think just one, and I'm almost done with it."

"That's nice. How do you feel about movie and pizza tonight?"

"Like going out?" Christine looked down at him, and Erik shook his head.

"No. I mean staying in, and doing naked movies and pizza. I've been so tired from work since we've gotten back that we've not had time to take it slow. I want to make it up." He slapped her butt making her smirk.

"That sounds amazing. I'd love to do naked movies and pizza. Or just naked pizza with movies for background noise."

"That could work." He started to lightly scratch at her back, which made Christine hesitant to move.

"Work can wait." She wanted to relax a few minutes longer.

. x .

"Hey can I talk to you about something?" Erik had been wanting to have the conversation for a few months, but he just kept forgetting.

Christine looked away from the TV, and when it seemed rather serious she turned completely towards him so he had her full attention. "Of course. What is it?" She took his hand from his lap, and set it in her's so she had something soothing.

"I… I kind of want to resign as CEO of ED Designs." He couldn't take it back now that it was out there. He'd been on the fence for so long, it was finally just time to talk about it. "Go somewhere quiet with you and just live the rest of our life. Maybe travel and see the world."

"Oh… I mean…" Christine wasn't sure how she felt about leaving New York. On one hand it was a great idea, but on the other, New York City was her home. "That could be a good plan."

"What about it could make it a bad plan? I mean I'll still be making money so it's not like money will be a problem."

"No money isn't my concern, I just don't know if I'm ready to leave New York. It's my home, and I have so many memories here. Plus Meg is here and I don't know how I'll fare with seeing her once a year."

"I think that we can afford to bring her over every weekend if you'd like. I mean I'm only a few hundred thousand dollars away from having a hundred million. So basically I'll be there in the morning. I am disgustingly rich, Christine. Like we could probably live a lavish life even if I stopped taking money in for the rest of our lives."

"Yeah."

"But I want to buy a yacht before I resign, and get the money back in savings. Would you like a yacht?"

"I mean why not. You already have a jet." Christine couldn't believe the conversation she was having. She felt like a spoiled brat, and she wanted to be grossed out by Erik, but he deserved the money and life he had. He made it himself after being homeless without a family or any support. She couldn't have been more inspired by a person.

"Would you ever want to use it though?"

"Of course. Dock it in Hawaii and go down once a month and spend the weekend floating around the island. It'll be fun, but if you don't get one that's fine too. It's all up to you." She bopped his nose, and Erik took her finger and bit it.

"Imma get one then. Then after the money is back we'll sit down and talk about me resigning again. See how we feel about it with where we are in life at that point."

"Okay. Sounds like a plan." She sat up on her knees, then leaned over to Erik and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're so sexy." She tugged at his hair, and Erik smiled when she moved over onto his lap. "How about you take me into our bedroom and show me who's boss. Yeah? While you still can." She giggled when Erik looked offended by the suggestion that he wouldn't be.

"Listen here, I think that my employment status will not change the hierarchy of the bedroom."

"Hmm no, but if you're interested I know of some… devices that can assist me with taking over every once and awhile."

"I think that I will take a hard pass on those devices. I'd rather not have something rammed up my butt if you don't mind."

"Are you saying that if it'd turn me on you'd do it?"

"I mean I'd let you do it once every month or so, but maybe even not that often, because I know there's plenty that gets you off that doesn't include shoving shit up my ass."

She was nearly speechless. "You are the greatest." She wasn't sure why, but knowing he'd do that if it meant she get some enjoyment out of it was just… It made her realize just how much he loved her and was willing to sacrifice for her.

"Well y'know. The shit you do for the person you love." Erik smiled, and she rustled his hair. "So... just so I have some fair warning, am I going to come home to you wearing a strap-on anytime soon?"

"You shouldn't. That's not really my deal. Your butthole is safe for at least a year."

"Oh thank you. I can't really say the same about yours though. You really push for that shit when you're drunk, and when I'm drunk I don't really think much through so one day when we're both drunk it'll likely happen."

"Yeah I don't know why I do. It's not my favorite place to have an item put but I guess drunk me disagrees." Christine laid her chin on Erik's shoulder, and he smiled when she licked his shirt.

"Oh thank you for the lick. I appreciate it." Erik kissed her forehead while pausing the movie, and she grabbed at his hand when he got up off the couch. "I'll be right back. Promise."

"Fine." She decided to take his departure as an opportunity to go to the restroom. She hurried to the guest bathroom so she wasn't missing when he came back.

Thankfully, she ran back to the couch once she was done, and Erik still wasn't back. She groaned and laid down. "Baaaaaaaaaaabbbe! Hurry up! I miss you already!" She groaned again, and she stopped and smiled when Erik looked over the back of the couch at her.

"And I thought I was codependent." She sat up when he walked around to the other side out the couch, and once he sat down she took a moment to appreciate Erik's lack of shirt, and pajama pants.

"No no no. Stand up. These are too much clothes for our movie night."

"Really?" Christine nodded and he stood and pulled his boxers down, and she smirked when she got a good view of his butt bending over. "There." He sat down and kicked them to the side. "Better?"

"Mhm." She looked at the TV when Erik started the movie back up, however she was distracted with an idea she had. It'd been a few weeks since she'd treated him to a start to finish… service, so she considered treating him to one. "So yeah." Christine scooted over so she could lay down, and Erik was going to ask what she was doing when she had her head over his lap.

"Oh-" she started kissing around him, and she couldn't help but giggle when she noticed Erik was trying to fight a smile.


	38. Chapter 38

April rolled around, and life had gone pretty much back to normal. Christine wasn't sure what normal with Erik was, but they were there. She still hurt, her dreams almost always woke her up crying, but hey she could only do so much learning on how to live with the pain in six months.

She was in her office picking at a salad she bought, which looked good at the time, but it just wasn't playing out in her favor. The chicken was lackluster, the lettuce was old, the dressing was too sweet, and the croutons were stale. It was a complete disappointment.

As she struggled through her salad, Erik's voice came through on the intercom. "Hey can you come here please?"

"Yeah I'm on my way." She got up from her desk and hurried out of her office and towards Erik's. She pushed his door open, and when he was pacing the width of his office. "What's up? Everything alright?" She shut and locked the door behind her, and Erik stopped and looked at Christine. He immediately felt better after looking at her.

"So I remember when you came to my place that night after New Years and we filmed our little thing?"

"Yeah." Her body went cold as she realized why he was freaking out. "Did it get posted?"

"No! Just- we talked while we ate and we talked about birthdays and parents?"

She sighed in relief knowing the video was still private. "Yeah."

"Well I need to tell you a change to some stuff I told you. My birthday is December thirty first, nineteen eighty eight, and my parents names are Rick and Patricia." Christine's jaw hit the floor, she nearly didn't believe what he was saying. The odds were _impossible_ yet it happened. Erik found his family, the one he was born into and deserved.

"No way." She covered her mouth, and Erik nodded.

"Yeah way." She stood there staring at him, mostly in shock, but she finally squealed and jumped onto him. She was amazed, but thrilled! She was thrilled, he deserved to have a place and know the only parent he had was an abusive mom.

"I can't believe this is happening! When are we going to see them again?"

"I don't know. I wanted to talk to you first about what we do next? I mean yeah they're my family according to the DNA test, but they're strangers. So what do we want to do? We need boundaries until we become comfortable with the idea of this information and each other."

"I think we'll all get along fine. It's a matter of you opening up, which I know you're not a fan of doing."

"Listen,"

"No not listen. Erik you can't be an asshole to these people because you're nervous. You need to open up and realize that this is bigger than you and me. What if we have kids one day? They deserve grandparents, and now they have the chance to have them as long as you don't fuck it up."

"I know but what if they annoy us on a grand scale? Like you're ready to throat kick Patricia or something? And not an individual event, but like as a whole."

"Then we'll break up with them and say we tried, but we _have_ to try."

Erik sighed as Christine crossed her arms. "Okay."

"Good. Now call Rick or Patricia and see when we can meet for dinner. I want to meet your siblings too if possible."

"Okay."

Christine giggled when Erik seemed not too enthusiastic, so she got up on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek. "It'll be okay." She rubbed his arm as she got down off her tippy toes, and Erik watched as she waited for him to react to something.

"I have thirty minutes until this interview, wanna help me kill some time?"

"New interview? What position?"

"Artist. Mikey gave his notice, he's moving to Nebraska because his wife's mom is sick. Anyway, I gotta find a new artist. So I have an interview today, and then tomorrow I'm killing myself with them."

"That sucks. Well I think I could burn at least twenty five of those minutes." She smiled as Erik did, and he set her hands on her back, then let them move down to her butt. He squeezed, and Christine bit her lip at the idea of office sex. It had been awhile so she was excited.

"That's twenty five minutes I don't have to be bored and I get to look at your beautiful body."

"Sounds like a win win." She smiled, and when Erik leaned down to kiss her, she wrapped her arms around his neck so he was stuck down there with her.

. x .

"Erik? What are you doing?" Christine yawned as she walked into the family room, where Erik was sitting at the dining room table. His makeshift office was set up at the dining room table.

"Going over that interviewee's resume. She was good and I'd rather not waste my time with more interviews if I'm just going to hire her. What do you think?" Erik looked over at Christine, and she paused before walking up behind his chair. She bent over and eyed the drawings he was thumbing through.

"They're good. Not as good as mine though." She smirked making Erik chuckle, and he reached back and put his arm around her waist.

"No one is as good as you, but for someone that isn't you I think she's pretty decent."

"Yeah she'd do good. If you like her hire her. If she's cute I'll hate her though."

"Eh. She's a little too Italian for me. Besides, even if she was cute I'll always prefer you." Erik moved her down and onto his lap, and Christine smiled as his hands moved down to her hips. "You're my wife, and I love you so much." He grabbed her by her cheeks, and she giggled as he kissed her. She shut her eyes and set her hands on his shoulders, and her stomach did flips as their lips played off one another.

. x .

"Hey Erik I'm kind of stumped on this, can you help me?" Christine looked up, and she froze when _it_ was sitting next to Erik getting trained. "Oh sorry the door was cracked. I'll go ask Tyrone." Christine forced a smile despite her blood boiling at the sight of _it_ being anywhere near Erik. She had to stay calm, cool and collected.

"No I'll take a look. What's up? Also this is Carlotta. The woman I told you about the other day."

"Thank you." Christine walked over to Erik's side, ignoring Carlotta. She set the drawing down and wrapped her arm around his shoulder so Carlotta could see her wedding ring. "So I'm not sure if I should make the lettering purple or white. I feel like the purple would pop more, but white goes with the white and gold theme." Christine moved up and ran her fingers through his hair, and Erik tried not to get curious since they had a fairly strict no PDA or something of that sorts around employees during work hours.

"I… Would do purple personally. It definitely would pop, bring some more visual interest to the piece."

"That's what I though. Well I'll leave you two to it. Love you baby." Erik was stunned when she leaned down and kissed him, but it wasn't a little peck, it was a tongue, felt like she was trying to eat his face type of kiss.

The kiss ended, and it took Erik a few seconds to bounce back from it. "I- I love you too. I'll see you at lunch."

"Awesome." Christine smiled as she picked her paper up, and she left the room. She made sure she got a little extra hip away in the walk since she knew Erik was watching.

. x .

" _That mother fucker_!"

"Right?!" Christine had called Meg who had a similar hatred for Carlotta for the same reason Christine did. "I did the best I could to mark my territory, but it's not going to be enough. She could watch me fuck him and she'd think he's fair games still! I don't trust her at all. Like I don't trust her more than I love Erik."

" _She's such a slut! You know I don't use that word lightly but she is. Who fucks another girls boyfriend? And then fucks the girls best friends fiancé because the best friend is the girl's best friend? I hate her. I could be a doctor's wife right now! He is a plastic surgeon I hear. I wouldn't have to work for shit_."

"I know. I can't believe Erik hired her. I mean sure he had no clue I knew her or hate her to guts, but still! God I'm so annoyed." Christine looked up, and she panicked when she saw Erik walking towards her office. "Hey I gotta go. Erik is coming."

" _While I'm on the phone? So gross. Bye_." Christine giggled and pressed the hang up button, and she smiled once Erik got to her office and walked in.

"Hi my handsome husband, how can I help you?"

"Can you run and grab us lunch? This is taking a lot longer than planned because she's more interested in talking about me and you than working."

"Maybe because she's a homewrecking slut that hates me? That might have something to do with that. And no, I won't leave you alone with that monster. If you're hungry order pizza, but while she is in your office with you I am staying here."

"Ah so there is something between you two." Erik sat down since he had a feeling it'd be a long story. "Do tell."

"Well she and I were in the same classes and she _always_ wanted to be the best, but I'm me so she had a problem. Anyway I got a higher test score than she did one semester and she decided to show her rage, she fucked my boyfriend. Which is fine, I don't care. However because she is a heartless twat she decided to fuck Meg's fiancé since we're best friends. So she destroyed two relationships over a test score."

"Oh wow." He wasn't sure what to do with that information. He definitely couldn't fire her over it no matter Christine's annoyance… at least he was fairly sure he couldn't.

"Yeah. So she's going to aim for my position and do anything she can to get it, including ruining us."

"Well she's not going to get your position. I hired you into it and I don't regret it. You're the best artist here. Your turn times are quick, your art is always fantastic and you rarely get returns. I have no reason to knock you down. Unless I bring you up, but even then I'd give it to Stan. Not her."

"How would you bring me up?"

"Probably like inactive co-CEO or something like that. Where you have the position but don't do anything since I know you'd be scared shitless."

"I'd prefer you not. I don't have the qualifications for that. I don't want people to know I got the job because I suck your dick. Head Artist is where I do best and want to stay."

"Okay then here is where you'll stay. Christine I'm not your ex boyfriend, I will never cheat on you. Especially with that woman who's sitting in my office."

"I know. I trust you, I just don't trust her. That's my problem. Even if she doesn't try to sleep with you, maybe she'll sleep with another guy in a relationship? Sure the guy will do it down the line anyway, but I could stop it at this point. Erik, she's not a good addition to this company. She's toxic, and I'd quit if she's staying, but that means you in an office alone with her all day so I can't."

"She's really that bad? What if she's changed?"

"She may have but I wouldn't be surprised if she's still the filthy whore that she was back in college." Christine hated herself for using that sort of language, but it pushed her point across so he knew _just_ how much she hated Carlotta.

"Wow you hate her. Okay, how about a one week trial, and if you don't like her I'll fire her. Sound like a plan?"

"Yeah sure. It'll just be one week of pure torture, but I know you don't like interviewing so I'll do it for you." Christine hated how much she loved the asshole. She'd do anything for him, and it just wasn't even comfortable.

"Thank you." Erik leaned forward and rest his hand on her desk. "Hey, just to show how much I love you, I was going to hire her for your position had you never come in, but you came in and you knocked her right down. You were much more skilled, more personable and sincere… Plus your ass is amazing so there's that. Oh and also I figured you were in crippling debt from that leather case you had your portfolio in."

Christine giggled as she set her hand over his. "That portfolio was a graduation present from Annie. So thankfully no. However I do have a great ass, and I'm glad that you appreciated it as much as I do."

"Truth be told I still appreciate it." Erik smiled, and Christine glanced at the clock to see what time it was.

"Y'know the bathroom might be empty."

"Oh yeah?" Christine nodded, and Erik started to rock on his feet as he considered his options. "Let me go tell Carlotta some bullshit story. Go check. If all else fails there's my car."

"Your thinking is what keeps us afloat." Christine got up, and she giggled when Erik slapped her butt as she walked by.

. x .

"Here you guys go." Christine seat two plates down on Erik's desk for the two of them. The only reason she got Carlotta a plate was because she wanted to see her reaction.

"Oh thank you, Christine. What's on here?" Erik had never seen Christine get more than one meat topping so he was a little thrown off.

She looked over at Carlotta who was horrified. "Let's see, bacon, ham, sausage, pepperoni, chicken, canadian bacon and extra cheese." She smiled as Carlotta pushed her plate away.

"Very cute. I'll get a salad once we're done here."

"Oh I'm sorry, do you not eat meat?" Christine crossed her arms, and Erik looked at Carlotta then back at Christine.

"No. I've been a vegan since I was fifteen. Thank you for the horrifying picture though."

"Oh that's right. I completely forgot. Sorry about that." Christine took Carlotta's plate and took a bite from the slice of pizza. "Just with all the meat you shoved in your mouth in college I find it hard to believe you're a vegan."

Erik decided to take the opportunity to eat some of his lunch, and to let Christine get some of her frustrations out in private.

"Well y'know. With how little you did I would assume you're the vegan."

"Hey it worked out for me in the end. Out of the two of us in the room, who is married to the owner of the company? Oh that's right- it's me. I guess being a decent person _does_ help out in life." Christine smiled as she took another bite of pizza.

"You're cute."

Christine squinted at Carlotta who was sitting there smirking like a twat. "You've made a big mistake. Enjoy your week here." Christine left Erik's office, and she kicked at the wall before going back to work. She fucking hated that bitch.

. x .

"I hate her with every fiber in my body." Christine was twisting a dish towel in her hand as Erik washed the dishes.

"I can tell. I know the answer but I want to confirm. You knew she was a vegan, right?"

"Of course I did! That little cunt told everyone in college. Even if it was a teacher wanting to talk to her about a shitty essay she wrote, it was the first thing that came out of her mouth. She's gone at the end of the week, Erik. I can't work with her. She ruined my best friends relationship and I can't forgive her for it." She tossed the hand towel onto the counter, and Erik smirked at her annoyance. It wasn't funny, but she was cute. "Actually a week and two days. I want her to think she's keeping the job."

"Ah. Well I double checked that I can fire her whenever so just let me know when so I can reschedule some interviews."

"I can do that." Christine hopped up onto the counter and sighed. She hated being that annoyed, but she couldn't help it. "So, all annoyance aside, I was wondering if you wanted to go to dinner this weekend? Like a nice dinner? My treat."

"Dinner? That sounds nice. Where were you thinking?"

"Whatever sounds good to you." She crossed her legs, and waited for Erik to come to a conclusion.

"Uh… How about Cedar's?"

"Oh that sounds good. Cedar's Friday night, I'll call and make a reservation." She got down off the counter and slapped his butt before leaving the room to get her phone. She just needed to work her hardest the upcoming week to remind Erik that she wasn't boring, that she was pretty amazing and that she was infinitely better than Carlotta.


	39. Chapter 39

Christine was scrolling through her phone while eating a bagel and walking through the house when she heard voices causing her to look up. When she saw Rick and other people she didn't know, along with Erik staring at her, she instantly became mortified. "Did you forget I told you they were here?"

"I mean… Kinda." She wasn't sure what to do besides turn and run back into her room. She usually didn't put her clothes on until after her hair and makeup was done, which made mornings Erik's favorite time of day because she always walked around in her bra and panties. Which was unfortunate for her that morning. She couldn't believe she forgot they were over. In all honesty, she didn't really take in information very well while she did her hair.

Once she had a dress on she walked back out into the family room, and she managed a smile before sitting down next to Erik. "You look beautiful." He kissed her cheek, and Christine was embarrassed which meant she was a little testy.

"You're only saying that because you know you forgot to tell me about this until five seconds ago."

"Hmm no. I very clearly telling you last week, and you said oh awesome, and then I told you last night, and then I told you this morning while you were doing your hair. Admittedly the last one may have been on me with you forgetting, but I did tell you."

"Well, put it in my phone next time. Apparently my memory is slipping... Sign me up for a nursing home." Her depression stage of embarrassment was starting to kick in, and she just wanted to cry. She was so stupid and it just killed her knowing everyone was probably thinking the same thing.

"Not on my watch." Erik wrapped his arm around her waist, and she appreciated the comfort, whether he knew he was giving it or not. "So, Christine, you know Rick, the woman on his left is Patricia, his wife, then from right to left you have Dustin, Karri, Mitch and Rachel. Dustin and Karri are twins."

"Hi. It's nice to meet y'all." She sighed when her roots of growing up in the South popped through. "I'm Christine, Erik's wife." She leaned forward and shook everyone's hand, and she sat back once she could. "So don't take this as complaining, but what's going on? I figured this would be more of a dinner event. Like the big meet up of sorts."

"Well we thought that too, but then Erik called us up, so here we are."

"Oh okay then. Awesome." Christine felt so out of place. She could tell everyone did. Dustin, Karri, Mitch and Rachel were sizing Erik up, and Erik was doing the same to them. Christine was just there for support, and Rick and Patricia were there to break up any issues there might be.

"So," Dustin itched his chin. "you're my older brother huh?"

"I guess so." That reminded Erik, he wasn't old anymore! Well, he was old, but he wasn't deep thirties old yet. "Well, at least that's what the DNA says anyway."

"Huh. So like… How is this going to work? I'm glad to welcome another brother in, but like, what are we trying to accomplish? Big happy family? Or in the end are we just going to go back to being strangers?"

"Preferably the former if possible." Erik felt like an idiot. He hated this. "My wife… She brought up the point that it's not just she and I in this situation, but any future kids we may have as well. And I want our children to have family outside of her and me… Growing up with no outside family pretty much sucks."

"Yeah. Well… I guess we should try and get to know one another. Well you with all four of us." Erik chuckled, and he looked over at Christine who was smiling and looking at him. "Obviously it won't happen here today, but we'll have to hang out. Get drinks, things like that."

"Okay. That sounds good to me." Erik was getting a little weary. He didn't like how "happy" they were to accept their new found brother, and quite frankly it was a bad idea bringing them to the condo. He didn't want to be accepted because they knew he was rich. However he wanted to lay some ground work out. "Well I mean let's find a time to go grab some drinks and go from there. I just didn't want you guys to think I wasn't interested, which is why I called you guys here. I'm just so busy I haven't really had the time to do much besides work and sleep."

"That sounds great." Christine bit her thumb when Rachel sounded like a mouse.

Christine excused herself when she needed to pee, and she also took the opportunity to change into something more comfortable. As she slipped her dress off she noticed a faded stretch mark on her hip. She sighed and ran her thumb down the length of it, and she tried thinking of something else when her throat tightened up. Her life was so busy it was easy to forget, but it was the little things and sleepless nights that were the worst. She still hadn't stepped foot in the nursery since before he passed away, she wasn't sure how she'd react, and at that point she was worried that it would ruin all her progress. "Are you alright?"

Christine snapped out of it, and realized that she had zoned out staring at the stretch mark. She looked in the mirror, and Erik was shutting the bathroom door. "Yeah I'm fine. Why did you leave everyone alone?"

"They're gone. I just wanted to see everyone so they didn't think I wasn't interested. It seemed more heartfelt in person than over the phone."

"Ah." Christine grabbed her shirt and slipped it on, then stepped into her shorts and pulled them up to her hips. "I'll be into work in a few hours. Is that alright?"

"Yeah that's fine. What's wrong?" He hugged Christine from behind, and she sighed while rubbing his cheek.

"Nothing. Alexander just came into mind a few minutes ago. Nothing I can't handle."

"Oh. Yeah I was thinking about him earlier. It doesn't really get better, does it?" Christine took a deep breath, but she felt the tears swell up either way.

"No. No it doesn't." She flicked the tears off her cheeks as they rolled down towards her chin. "The pain just goes numb when I'm busy, but in the down time like this and I think of him it's like we were just in the hospital yesterday."

"I know. I don't remember if I did or not, but if I didn't, I just want to say I'm so sorry you had to go through that. It's a pain you'll never forget and I caused it."

"No you didn't. Don't think or say that. Why would you put the blame on yourself?"

"Because I got you pregnant."

"I was the one who picked the incompetent gynecologist to put my IUD in. We both had a hand in me getting pregnant, but neither of us had a hand in him passing away." Christine was amazed she was able to finally say Alexander died and it wasn't their faults, and truly believe it.

. x .

Christine over the past three days had been watching Carlotta like a hawk, and she noticed everyday after lunch Carlotta would go to the restroom. So naturally after seeing her leave Erik's office as if Christine had never said not to come into contact with him, decided to teach her a little lesson.

On the fourth excruciating day of the week, when she saw Carlotta walking onto the floor out of the elevator, Christine hurried to the bathroom and removed all the toilet paper. To see what would happen, she set it all on the back of the toilet in the big stall and sat cross cross on the toilet so her feet couldn't be seen. With her video rolling for Meg's gratification, Christine sat back and waited. Thankfully she didn't have to wait too long. The door swung open, and she heard Carlotta talking on the phone. She felt like a child, but it was entirely worth it.

After a minute or so, Christine bit her tongue when she heard Carlotta's initial confusion. "Uh… Hang on… Dude there's no toilet paper in my stall. Fucking kill me... No I'm not going to air dry!" Christine covered her mouth as Carlotta whimpered. "No I won't use my underwear! They're two hundred dollar limited edition Geon's and were a birthday present! No I don't know anyone well enough to ask that." There was a long pause, and Christine couldn't wait to find out what she was going to do. "You know what? Fine I'll use my damn underwear but you're buying me a new pair because you suggested it!" Christine rolled her eyes, and a few seconds later the toilet flushed and Carlotta left the stall. "I can't believe this just cost me my favorite underwear." Christine heard the trash lid open then close, and she couldn't believe how amazing everything worked out.

Once Carlotta washed her hands and left, Christine double checked for feet before getting down and replacing all the toilet paper. To celebrate, she hurried to Erik's office with a newfound kick in her step after filming that Carlotta did in fact throw away a two hundred dollar pair of underwear. "Hi baby." Christine couldn't stop smiling as she walked up to his desk.

"Hey there. You seem pleased." Erik pushed his drawer back in, and was caught off guard when she came around to him and plopped down into his lap.

"I am! And I wanna tell you why."

"Do it." Erik started to rub her back, and he was honestly excited to find out what got his wife so cheery.

"So Carlotta uses the restroom every day after lunch. So I ran in and took all the toilet paper in with me in the big stall, and I just expected her to use her underwear and be done. Which she did, however she was wearing a pair of two hundred dollar underwear that I sat online to buy for hours. She threw them in the trash! Oh I'm so happy. That's what she gets for not listening to me. I saw her leave your office earlier."

"That's pretty funny. Since I know you're going to do you no matter what I say, just avoid doing anything that could result in a lawsuit against me? Don't let her know it was you, things like that. Just remember, it's only three more days and she's gone." Erik didn't care what happened as long as work got done and there was no potential for being sued.

"I can do that." She smiled before kissing him, and when the door opened they looked over at it. When it was Carlotta, Christine locked her jaw.

"I don't know who to tell, but the women's bathroom is out of toilet paper."

"Hmm… No it's not. I was in there right after lunch started and there was plenty in the stall I was in. I can't comment for the others though. We just grab the extras out of the other stalls until cleaning comes in at night. Oh also- the only person in this office that doesn't get to knock on that door is me, so knock next time." Christine smiled, and Carlotta scoffed before leaving the office. "Cocky little bitch. Who does she think she is? I had to have sex with you for months to get no knocking privileges."

"Right? She did it earlier and I asked her to knock from now on and she keeps ignoring me. It's like hi yeah it's your boss, maybe listen a little bit? Your problems aside she's starting to annoy me. She doesn't listen, her product now isn't even close to what she was showing in her portfolio, and she's always late." Christine gently squeezed his shoulders as she tried to keep it cool, but as usual it failed.

"Listening to you talk shit about her is really turning me on. Not gonna lie."

"Yeah?" Erik smirked when Christine nodded, and he glanced at the clock to see how much time he had. "Well, I have thirty to forty minutes until my next meeting."

"Oh do you? That's plenty of time." She pecked his cheek before getting up and locking his door, and she unzipped her skirt as she walked back over to him. She let it fall to the floor, and she giggled when Erik rubbed his chin in reaction to her being pantiless.

"I do love your underwear choice. It's quite fitting." He stood up, and he walked over to her and kissed her before anything could be said or done. He grabbed the back of her neck as the kiss deepened, and she mewed when his other hand grabbed at her butt. She felt her knees get weak when his tongue dipped into her mouth, then squeaked when he slapped her butt.

. x .

Christine woke up in the middle of the night, hungry mostly but she also needed to pee. So she did her best to quietly get out of bed, and once she was out, she hurried to the bathroom.

After getting her bladder to stop bitching she went out to the kitchen, and she grabbed a slice of pizza that was leftover from dinner. She was standing waiting for it to be done heating up in the microwave, and she caught glimpse of the nursery door. Despite her better judgement, she walked over towards it and opened the door. It was the first time she'd looked at it since coming home from the hospital and closing the door, so naturally she was a little emotional. She stepped inside and flipped the light on, brightening up the room and letting her better see all the furniture and stuffed animals. Her chest tightened up as she went to hug herself, and after five or six breaths, she walked over to the crib. It was so empty, she hated it. And it was all so eery to her. A perfect nursery, and a fucked up pregnancy. No one could tell that it ended so badly by looking in that room. For all they knew, Alexander was with grandma and grandpa.

She tapped the mobile, then walked over to the dresser and pulled one of the drawers open. She eyed the clothes inside, then shut the drawer when she grew angry. She hated everything in that god forsaken room. It was nothing but a reminder of what could've and should've been, sitting in her home reminding her of her failures as a parent.

But then, she thought of Alexander learning to crawl across the rug, and her walking into the room in the morning to his beautiful smiling face standing up and waiting to be rescued from his crib… Then she loved the room.

She went back over to the crib, and grabbed the little blue bear Erik had given her with some flowers after learning they were having a boy, and she sat down on the rug with it. She rubbed it's head as she tried not to start crying, but just knowing how excited Erik was tore her apart. It hurt for other reasons, but he was suffering in silence and he never came to her, and knowing that killed her. The pain he wasn't expressing couldn't have been easy. He was going through it alone, because that's the only way he knew how to process emotions. So there she was, sitting on the floor in the nursery crying over her two boys. She was really fun at parties.

. x .

Erik woke up to an empty bed, so he assumed Christine had woken up early somehow. She wasn't known to be an early riser. However he was met to an empty bathroom, and an equally as empty kitchen with abandoned pizza in the microwave. He was going to check the spare bedroom, but stopped at the nursery when the door was cracked. Since the door hadn't been opened since September, he gently pushed the door open and sighed when he found Christine on the floor asleep, cuddling the bear he got her a while back. He knelt down and brushed the hair out of her eyes before lightly shaking her shoulder.

"Christine? Hey, wake up. This can't be comfortable." Erik smiled when her eyes fluttered open, and she squinted when it was bright in the room. "Why did you sleep in here?"

"I didn't mean to. I just- yeah. I think it's time to donate everything." Christine sat up as she yawned, and she looked around before crawling up to Erik and hugging him. She felt like shit, and hugging him always made her feel some better.

"Okay that's fine." He gently rubbed her back as he fought through the curls to kiss her temple. "What brought you in here last night?"

"I don't know. It's been on my mind for a few days now, and the door was cracked last night so I came in and took a look since it hasn't been opened since I shut the door. Were you in here?"

"No. Maybe the cleaners came in? I mean it's been nearly nine months and the floors are clean."

"Oh maybe that was it, anyway, the door was cracked so I came in and cried for awhile. I seem to be best at that."

"Hey don't say that. I can think of at least four things you're better at than crying."

"Different sex positions and oral don't count."

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say drawing, lighting up a room when you walk in, keeping your head held high when in a bad situation and keeping me from being a complete asshole."

"You obviously forgot when I tried to kill myself because my fiancé was ignoring me and I was depressed. I still think back to that and can't believe I nearly ended my life over something so small and insignificant." Christine sighed before letting go of Erik, and he was shocked when she wasn't crying. "I just… you brought a stability into my life that enabled me to grow and become a stronger person. Had I stayed with Raoul I would've been the emotional wreck with no confidence for the rest of my life. You helped me find myself. Even while we were just friends you helped me find my voice. So thank you." She rubbed his arm before standing up, and she looked around the room while picking the bear up. "It's going to hurt saying goodbye to all of this stuff."

"Well I'm glad I was able to create an environment that assisted you in your quest to find yourself… and yeah. It's going to hurt pretty bad… Maybe we should keep it? I mean even if it's not soon, we'll start a family sooner or later. This could be used for the next baby."

"Could we put it in storage?"

"Of course." Erik stood up, and Christine followed suit with his help… Her body may have been protesting her and the sleeping on the floor shenanigans. "We'll do that this weekend."

"Sounds like a plan." She looked around the room as they walked out, and she frowned when her heart ached. "Remember that thing I brought up at the celebrities party?"

"Hm no you brought up a lot of things." Christine left the door cracked before they walked over to the kitchen for breakfast.

"When do we want to start to try for a baby? Sooner or later we're going to have to deal with not being able to have sex all day everyday."

"I don't know, once you're ready to hang the sex hat up let me know and we'll talk about it some more."

"I don't think I'll ever be truly ready, but it's a sacrifice we have to make for a while. We have most of my pregnancy, then whenever we can sneak it after the six weeks after I give birth. Obviously we'll probably be too tired for a while, but it's all up to us to decide."

"And after your last pregnancy you're ready to try again? Aren't you scared?"

"Of course I'm scared but it wasn't something I could change or fix. It just happened, and if this freak accident happens again then we know that maybe we just aren't supposed to be parents. Come on, don't you think this place is severely lacking a little boy or girl running around? And color. It's lacking color but we can talk about that later." She couldn't do the all black everything anymore, she needed to bring some color into the house before she was convinced she lived in a cave.

"I… I guess if you're ready I'm ready. We'll end up doing it sooner or later, and I'd prefer it be sooner rather than later. And yeah this place could do with some color. I'll get a contractor to come out soon and we can go crazy and get this place updated a bit. It is about fifteen years old."

"Yay!" She was excited about both, but mostly the baby. She threw herself at him for a hug, and Erik smiled knowing she was that excited for a baby. He was too if he looked past everything they were giving up.


	40. Chapter 40

The conversation of babies and remodeling got lost in the whirlwind of work and life suddenly picking up. Erik was out several nights a week with his brothers and sisters, and the other nights they were both working late struggling to meet due dates and deadlines, along with everyone else. A few forced themselves to go home at closing even with a desk full of work, but the ones that valued the work that came in stayed… Then there was Carlotta who had no problem leaving even if her work for the day hadn't finished. Christine knew Erik just didn't have the time to fire someone at that point, but she was _so bad_. He needed to find the time! Mad clients meant less work, and less work meant a smaller paycheck, and in New York City the bigger the better. Month after month it looked like it was going to slow down, but it never did. Christine couldn't believe the paychecks she was taking home, she'd never made that much money in her life.

However, it wasn't worth it. She was tired, Erik was tired and they barely had time or the energy to take a second and just catch up. Finally one late night she dragged a pop-up desk into Erik's office and moved all her supplies onto it. It had been a month since sex had been anything besides a quick in and out ordeal, and she missed her husband. If moving to his office was what gave them time with each other then she would do it.

She was nearly set up when Erik was at a stopping off point, and he watched her as she plugged electronics in and adjusted items accordingly. "What are you doing?"

"We never spend time together, and I'm not going to sit in the same damned building as you while we never spend time together. So I'm moving in. We're both so busy right now. You with your family and getting to know them and work, and me with work that it's been so long since we've had a conversation. Hell this is a _long_ conversation for us."

"I'm not known to be a quiet worker. I mumble and grumble and I'm on the phone a _lot_."

"Even after closing?"

"Phone, no. Mumbling and grumbling? All hours of the day." She giggled and pushed her chair up to her desk before sitting down.

"I can work with mumbling and grumbling. Quick thing. I was thinking that with these hours everyone is pulling that maybe after closing change the dress code to casual? Like something more comfortable than dresses and heels and suits? Sometimes most of us don't leave till four in the morning."

"Yeah I was considering that. I've never seen it this busy before. I'm dumbfounded and concerned."

"Why concerned?"

"Because usually a influx in work means a drop in the economy is coming. I don't know why but I never trust busy."

"Oh… Well hopefully it's just busy." Christine turned her computer on, and she smiled when Erik took her hand into his.

"I miss you."

"I miss you too." Christine blushed at the feeling of Erik's lips against the back of her hand, and Erik was thrilled when he noticed the blush.

"I'm going to set it up so everyone gets next Friday off. Due dates I mean. I'll ask for new ones, and we'll have no work Friday. So everyone can just take a day and relax."

"That would be nice." Christine wanted to cry. She hadn't had a day off in at least three weeks. "Will you spend the day with me? I know you're really enjoying getting to know your family, but I claim next Friday."

"I was planning on spending it with you. You should really come with me sooner or later, they're great people."

"No I know, I just am lazy and feel like I'm intruding. It's sibling bonding time, not siblings and their significant others bonding time. Once you guys are closer I'll come."

"I won't make you go if you're just going to feel uncomfortable, so once you'll feel comfortable just let me know."

"On it… I guess we should get back to work. The more we fuck around the later we're here."

"Good point." Erik squeezed her hand, and he hesitantly let go. She logged onto her computer, and opened up all the windows and applications she was going to need.

. x .

"I fucking love you. You have no clue." With Friday off, Erik and Christine spent it the only way they knew how. In bed. They had movies playing in the background, but they were far more interested in each other than the movie.

"You probably love me around the amount I love you." Erik kissed her forehead as she laid on top of him encased in his arms. "I wish work would slow down. I'm so tired of quickies and barely uttering a word to you in a day."

"I am too. Quickies are great optionally, but forced they suck."

"Pretty much." Erik brushed the hair out of her face, and Christine smiled. "I was thinking yesterday that maybe you should schedule an appointment to go get your birth control taken out."

"Really? With how busy you are you want to throw me being pregnant on top of it all?"

"It could take awhile. It took five months of constant fooling around and rarely pulling out for you to get pregnant with a non-functioning birth control."

"True. I guess I could. So that means you're still interested?"

"Of course I am. I can't wait to see you pregnant again. You rock that bump."

"I feel like a beached whale, but I'm glad I look like a fabulous beached whale."

"So fabulous." Christine giggled, and Erik couldn't decide if he wanted to have his way with her or take a nap. He had too many options and not enough time in a day.

. x .

Erik took Christine's suggestion and let everyone know, starting at eight if anyone were still working, casual was allowed. So naturally the bathrooms were crowded with people trying to change into something more comfortable, thankfully though, Christine had Erik's office. It was fun, walking around the office barefoot and in pajamas or shorts and a t-shirt, it felt like a sleepover.

She was in the break room rummaging through her leftover containers when James, another artist walked in and leaned against the counter. "Hi! Am I in your way? I'm on a hunt so you'll probably be quicker."

"No you're fine. I'm just waiting for more coffee." He pointed at the pot which was refilling, and Christine still wasn't sure why Erik hadn't invested in a single serving coffee machine that took two seconds every time someone wanted coffee.

"Oh. Alrighty." Christine opened a styrofoam container, and frowned when it was a week old meatball sandwich she never finished.

"Hungry?"

"Kind of." She threw the week old sandwich out, then dove back into the fridge. She suddenly felt hand on her hips, and something she didn't want to feel pressed up against her as a stinging rippled through her butt. She gasped and stood up and turned, and when it was James she slapped him across the face. "What the fuck was that? Get the fuck away from me!" She shoved him out of the break room and out into the open where everyone would hear the discussion. "You don't fucking touch me like that ever again!"

"Christine I'm sorry I don't know what happened. I never-"

"Of course you knew what happened and you also know that I'm married and even if I weren't in no way was that appropriate!" She shoved him up against the cubicle so he couldn't run.

"I know and I'm so sorry. I'm just tired, and I didn't mean to do it. Please forgive me." He couldn't help but panic when his sleep deprived brain was processing the moronic shit he did.

"Fuck off. There's _no_ excuse for that bullshit!"

"What the hell is going on here you two?" Christine looked over when it was Erik, and she wasn't sure what she wanted to do. "Christine?"

"He…" She sighed as she was torn between ruining his life and career by telling Erik the truth or giving him one more chance not to be a complete ass. "He ate my leftovers." She locked her jaw as James sighed.

"Don't you think that's a little much over leftovers? I can have someone go get more of whatever food it was."

"Sorry. I'm getting ready to start my period so I kind of exploded." She crossed her arms and walked towards Erik and straight into Erik's office. She turned when the door closed, and she sighed over Erik's scanning face.

"He didn't eat your leftovers, so what did he actually do to you to piss you off that much?"

"I'd tell you but I don't want him to lose his job yet. If he never does it again then it was just a momentary lapse in judgement from lack of sleep, but if he does it again then I want his ass gone."

"Okay I'll do what makes you comfortable possibly."

"Possibly?"

"I have to protect my ass, Christine. So if my ass doesn't need protecting then I will listen to you."

"Oh… Okay. He uh, he came up behind me while I was looking through the fridge, grabbed my hips, pressed his groin against me and slapped my ass. I slapped him as I started yelling at him."

"I-..." Erik had to remain as unbiased as he could in the situation, however it was a struggle when the man advanced on his wife, plus it was all in all a shitty thing to do. "I would like to talk with him." He left the office, and Christine could tell Erik was struggling to remain calm and balanced. Erik walked into the break room where James was, and it took all of Erik's strength not to punch him. "James would you come to me in my office please? I would like to speak with you."

"Of course." Erik and James walked back to the office, and Erik shut the door once everyone was in.

"So James, Christine told me what actually went down, and to be quite honest I'm trying my hardest not to murder your ass because that is my wife you just assaulted. However, per her wishes I'm not going to fire you. You're on a two strike system, so one more, and you're gone. No one will know about it besides us three so no one will be able to use it against you to get rid of you if you have some sort of beef with another woman in this company. I couldn't imagine _why_ you would, but hey. Weirder things have happened. So to make it clear you're on strike one. I will not have an environment where my female workers are afraid because you've suddenly become a piece of shit. Hell I won't have an environment where any of my workers are afraid of anyone. So don't give me a strike two. I'd hate to fire you. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

Erik saw James look over at Christine, which just wasn't going to work. "No no no. Do not look at her, do not speak to her, and do not think about her. After two years with no second strike I will put this all behind us and if she's comfortable with it you may speak to her again. However for right now, you're on my bad side which means you better fucking walk the other way if you see her coming."

"You said I couldn't look at her."

"Ask a co-worker to check for you." Christine smirked since now it was angry husband and not disciplining boss. "That is _your_ job to figure out. Not mine. Had you not touched her this wouldn't be an issue, and I sure as shit didn't tell you to touch her so I'm not going to think of ways to not look at her. Now leave. I'm too busy to keep it in your pants for you. Plus that's weird and awkward so I wouldn't do it anyway."

"Yes sir." Erik glared as James left the room, and once James was gone he let his eyes relax.

"See? Not fired."

"Yeah not fired." Christine walked over and locked the door, and she walked up to Erik before gently moving him back up against his desk. "Thank you for scaring the shit out of him."

"Oh you're welcome. I wanted to kill the shit out of him but jail would really mess things up. I'd hate to tell our kid they were conceived during a conjugal visit."

"That would be horrible… We could tell them though that we practiced making them a few times in this room. Once right after you yelled at a mean employee for smacking my ass."

"Oh that'd be a great story." Erik smiled when she balled his shirt in her hands, and he couldn't help but grab her butt. "What is up with guys and my ass tonight?"

"I'm always enjoying your ass. James on the other hand I don't know."

"Good point. So you know that anger for James you have going on?"

"Mhm."

"You should maybe bring it up front and get some of it out." She grinned as she started to unbutton Erik's shirt, and Erik was considering calling it a night after her request.

"Only for you." He tipped her chin up so he could kiss her, and he was caught off guard when she beat him to tongue. It was usually him who initiated it.

. x .

Erik was out with Dustin and Rachel when his phone started to go off, and when it was Christine he excused himself. "Hey sweetheart what's up?" It was late so he assumed she was still at work. Instead all he heard was crying.

" _Erik I'm so sorry I'm so stupid! Can you come get me? Please? I'm near work. I just- god I'm sorry_." The line went dead, and Erik looked at his phone while processing what just happened.

"Everything alright?" Erik looked up at Dustin while sliding his phone in his jacket pocket.

"Uh… I don't know. I need to go get Christine, she's at work and crying. Thanks for the fun night but I need to go." Thankfully he wasn't too far, nothing he couldn't run. He left the car with Christine in case she left late, he didn't want her walking home alone late at night.

He was running up tenth avenue towards the building when he stopped at the sight of at least five cop cars, two ambulances and two cars, one being his. He ran over to the ambulances, and when Christine was sitting on the back of it instead of laying on a gurney he sighed in relief. "Jesus Christ Christine are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She wiped her nose with her arm, and Erik knelt down so he could see her face.

"Christine please look at me. Why did you call me and hang up like that? I thought you were hurt or in trouble."

"I wrecked your car! I could've avoided it but I'm so tired that I didn't react in time. I just suck and I'm so stupid." She hit her forehead with her phone and took a deep breath.

"A wrecked car is worth all this crying? Christine as long as you're alright I don't care about the fucking car. Don't cry because you think I'm mad or something. Cars are replaceable, you aren't."

"Insurance is going to go up! I don't want to cost you all this money but I know you won't let me pay!"

"Was it your fault?"

"No but I could've slammed on the breaks. They turned left in front of me."

"Then we should be fine. Either way it doesn't matter. Accidents happen. You're alive, they're alive and everything is alright. If you're scared then keep crying, but please don't cry because you think I'm mad." Erik took her hands in his, and he glanced over at the wreck, and he looked the squashed hood of his car. "Are you sure nothing is broken? It looks like you were going pretty fast."

"No just some bruises and sprained ankle, besides that I'm fine. Are you sure you're not mad?"

"Of course I'm not mad. I'm almost hurt that you'd think I'd be mad over this." Erik moved up and sat down next to her, and he pulled his phone out so he could call a cab. He wasn't going to have her walking all the way home with a sprained ankle. "I'm calling a cab so you don't have to walk."

"No I'm fine."

"And I'm Asian. Stop insisting you're fine when you're clearly not." Erik put the phone to his ear so Christine would stop fighting, which thankfully worked.

. x .

"Ow!" Erik insisted on buying a elastic wrap for her ankle, along with keeping it elevated and icing it every so often, so when it came to shower the next morning and it was time to take the band off, things didn't go so well. Everything around the band had swollen so getting it off was proving to be a challenge. "Erik stop! It hurts!" She was crying it hurt so badly, which meant it hurt a great deal.

"Okay I'm sorry. We're they sure it's just sprained and not broken? This is a lot of swelling and blue for a sprain."

"I don't know. They may have said it was broken, I don't remember." Christine looked at her lap as she felt Erik's disappointment stare hit her.

"Christine, I feel like you remember. So tell me, is it broken or sprained?"

"It's… Broken." She felt the need to defend herself when he sighed. "I just didn't want you to freak out and take me to the hospital! I can't keep costing you all this money!"

"Why are you so worried about money all of the sudden?! Is there something I should know about?!"

"No! You just- you said you were worried about the market the other night, and I don't want to keep taking money out of savings. But here I am totaling your car, breaking my foot and raising our car insurance."

"Our car first of all, and how dare you break your foot. You're such an inconvenience, I should divorce you." Erik left the room to go into their bathroom, and came out with a pair of scissors. "Would you just forget I even said anything about the potential for a drop in the market? I'm probably wrong. Even if I'm right I don't have all my ducks in one puddle. I have many different ducks in many different ponds, and I have a rainy day fund set up. It only took me three years to recoup my money after two thousand eight, and I have five years worth of money set aside. I'm capable of living on a budget. I just don't when I don't have to." Christine flinched when he pulled the band away from her ankle so he could cut the damned thing off. "Sorry."

"I know you're capable of living on a budget, I just, you want to quit soon, and doing all this didn't help."

"You didn't do anything. That idiot turned when he shouldn't have and he hit you. He's at fault, not you. You could've slowed down, he could've sped up, there were things both sides could've done to prevent it, but it was late, you were tired, and what happened happened. Let's try and move past it? Once we get you some crutches we'll go car shopping. I want to get two this time."

"We don't really need two cars. Besides, do you have two parking spaces?"

"I do have two parking spaces. And we don't?"

"Well no. We go to work together, go everywhere together and when we don't, one of us walks."

"True. Well I'll think about it." Erik continued to gently and slowly cut the elastic band off Christine's ankle, and once it was off, he frowned at the swelling. "Did the EMT say that the bone was one that had to heal on its own or was it one you need a cast or surgery, which insurance covers, for?"

"He said it could heal in its own. It's only been five or six hours, so it's still a little tender but it'll get better."

"I know. I called Nadir an hour ago to get some crutches so he should be here soon hopefully. I guess I should call and have him get some more of these." Erik flung the now cut in half band across the room. "If they help but getting them off hurt then I'll just keep cutting them off."

"Yeah it helped." Christine smiled when Erik suddenly decided to kiss her ankle, which hurt but not enough to voice it. "I don't know how you did that. My foot and ankle are grossing me the fuck out right now."

"Because I love you and you're in pain." Erik stood up, and he picked Christine up so he could take her into the bathroom.

"I'd argue that I can hobble but I know you'll ignore me so I won't waste my breath."

"Good." He pecked her cheek and shut the bathroom door behind them. He set her down on the edge of the tub so he could go and turn the shower on. "You're not going into work today."

"What? Why? I have so many things due!" Christine felt her chest tighten at the idea of them being late and her being backlogged.

"Don't worry. Nadir got due dates changed, and the rush you had he gave it to Marrisa."

"No one was mad?"

"No, you're fine. Either way fuck them if they're mad."

"Okay… Did you hear anything back from the insurance company yet?"

"Yeah. They've been in contact with the idiots insurance and they're getting the process started. Idiots insurance is definitely paying for a new car. He picked the wrong car to drunkenly turn in front of."

"He was drunk? I didn't hear that."

"Yeah. I was talking to a cop while we waited for the cab and he said the guy's blood alcohol level was way high."

"Oh… What a dick. I hope I broke his neck and his premiums go up a shit ton."

"Yeah. I do too." Erik pulled his shirt off after checking the water and finding that it was warm. "But it's over with, and you're alive which is all that matters. Right?"

"Yeah but it still sucks." She took her bra off, and tossed it towards the dirty clothes hamper. She waited for Erik to finish getting undressed to take her underwear off. She lifted her hips up, and Erik pulled her underwear down and made sure to avoid touching her ankle. She sat back down, but once the clothes were set aside, Erik lifted her up and carried her into the shower. "You're spoiling me."

"I want your ankle to heal, besides I'm not going to let you get in the shower alone with bad balance and a bad ankle. You're clumsy enough with two good ankles and two legs to stand on."

"Good point." He set Christine into the shower stream, and she held onto his waist while he wet her hair down. "Do you ever look back at something and wish you'd done it differently?"

"Everyday."

"What do you wish you did differently?"

"Your pregnancy. Our relationship through it. I didn't like it. It felt like I had hurt you before and you were just staying with me out of necessity. That like, the minute you found some money you'd be gone and I'd never see you or the baby again."

"Really?" Christine looked down when Erik nodded, and she tried not to feel bad. Because it wasn't like that and she couldn't change how he felt about it. "Well it wasn't like that. I just didn't want to bounce from one guy to another. After what I did to you and Raoul I didn't deserve to go from Raoul right into your arms."

"You could've come right into my arms, I wouldn't have mind."

"I would've felt like shit. If you noticed I'm an awful human being and selfish so I'm kind of overall shit."

"You're not awful, selfish or overall shit. You're just human. We all make mistakes." Erik grabbed the shampoo, and Christine shut her eyes.

"You're too forgiving."

"No I'm not. You're too harsh." He set the bottle down once he had some soap in his, and he sighed as he rubbed it into her hair. He couldn't help but take his time, knowing he could've lost her reminded him how much he loved her hair.


	41. Chapter 41

"So," Mel sighed as she read her laptop. She shut the door with her foot, taking no heed to the chair right in front of her, but she sat down on it as if she knew it was there. "you two are ready to jump back into the pool already?"

"Well y'know. We talked about it for awhile, and honestly we've been talking about it since about November or December. However we've finally come to the decision that we want to try again. If we lose them too then we'll just call it quits, but neither of us are getting any younger so it's now or never."

"Yeah. I mean I've had women come in two months later pregnant, so everyone is different. Every couple is different, and every situation is different. I'm happy that you two were able to decide to go again after what happened. Hopefully you two have been able to move closer to finding peace, and you guys are happy."

"We're very happy. Erik found out he has a family, we eloped and business has been amazing. Although I did get in a car crash last week."

"So that's what's up with the crutches. What happened?"

"Yeah, I was going straight and this guy turned left in front of me and I hit him. Thankfully I got out with just a broken ankle and some bruises."

"How fortunate. That could've been so much worse…" Mel set her computer on the counter once she was done with it, and Christine itched her nose before laying down. "So I'm just going to remove the IUD and you'll be free and clear to start trying. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect." Christine put her feet up on the posts provided. "So losing Alexander didn't affect my ability to have more did it?"

"It shouldn't have. It wasn't a medically caused stillbirth." Mel turned momentarily to wash her hands, but Christine felt reassured besides Mel's distant tone. " _However_ stressing over getting pregnant won't help."

"Okay that makes sense." Christine wrung her hands together as Mel put some gloves on. "What if we lose the next one too?"

"Then you two have some of the worst luck, but I'm hopeful. So you two eloped, huh? When did that happen?"

"March twenty fourth. We got married on the beach in San Diego then went down to Australia for three weeks."

"Oh that sounds lovely. And no one was at the wedding?"

"No just me, Erik and the officiant." Christine flinched at the pinch she suddenly felt.

"That's good. Big weddings are crappy. Hell little weddings are crappy. Eloping is the way to go."

"I liked it. We were married in under a minute which was pretty great. It's like everyone knows the wedding vows, we don't need to repeat them every wedding."

"Yeah. Well all that matters is that you two are happy."

"We're as happy as we can be." Christine laid her hands across her chest and laced her fingers through each other so she could rest her arms.

"Good. So you're officially able to get pregnant now." Mel held up the IUD so Christine could see it before it got thrown away, and she couldn't help but smile. "Now the fun starts."

"The fun never stopped. Now it's just hoping something comes out of the fun."

"Naughty." Christine giggled as she sat up, and Mel smiled. "Why are you sitting up?"

"Aren't we done?"

"Oh no. Your yearly is in a week so I combined the appointments for you."

"I-"

"Lay down." Mel grabbed a kit from under the sink, and Christine frowned as she returned to lying down. She really had hoped Mel wouldn't do that, but Mel was Mel so she did.

. x .

"Erik I'm home!" She shut the door and set her purse down in the table, and she stopped when Erik was standing in the kitchen with some guy. "What's going on sweetheart?"

"Contractor. I know you said you wanted to brighten the place up, so I figured it's best to do that now seeing that we're planning on expanding soon."

"Oh okay." Christine hadn't even thought about the chance of construction happening with a baby. It's a good thing Erik did.

"So I have him re-doing the kitchen, updating the bathrooms and the flooring all throughout the house. And also repainting. The paint is ten years old, it's time for a fresh coat of grey."

"Yeah. That sounds great. Is this just the quote?"

"Yes ma'am. I should get back to you with a quote within the week, but it'll obviously be different than the end result depending on the materials you two pick throughout the process."

"That makes sense." Christine was defeated. She hurried home planning to strip Erik naked, but instead she got to wait for the contractor to leave. Not her ideal afternoon. "If you two will excuse me I need to use the restroom." Christine left the kitchen and went towards the bathroom so she could clean herself up a bit, and she also took the opportunity to change out of her lazy day bra and panties since it was a special occasion.

She was finishing putting her shorts back on when Erik came into the bedroom, and she smiled at him. "So how was your outing?"

"Good. So I have some pretty good news."

"Oh do you?" Erik leaned against the TV stand in anticipation of the news, which he hoped was as exciting as it seemed.

"Is the contractor gone?" Erik hummed a yes, so Christine continued. "So I went to the Doctor today."

"Did you? That's good. Keeping up with your health is fairly important." Erik didn't see the excitement. The fact that she was healthy was good, but, he was expecting something more.

"No my lady Doctor. She, up until about thirty minutes ago, took care of my birth control." Erik was silent, he honestly trying to figure out what she meant. Christine couldn't tell if he was happy or confused.

"I-" it finally clicked as to what she meant, and he couldn't help but smile as he grew a little nervous. It was _real_. They weren't just talking about having a baby anymore, the possibility was a reality and highly likely to happen. "Is that so?"

"Yes sir." Christine bit at her lower lip as Erik walked over to her sitting on the edge of the bed.

"So does that mean that we're not leaving the house for the next two weeks or what?" He grabbed at the bottom of her shirt and started to roll it up.

"I mean I have been wanting to go to London. I've never been and it'll be fun to kick off this process with a vacation."

"I mean any responsible adult would say that we just took three, almost four months off, but I really don't fucking care. Give me a few days, and then we'll run away for a couple weeks. Now _obviously_ we're going to have sex before we get to London," Erik pulled Christine's shirt off and smiled at her bra. It was her special occasion, black lace bra. "but it's the thought that counts." Erik unbuttoned her shorts, helped stand her up, and he gave them a push, but they fell to the ground mostly on their own. He enjoyed the matching underwear. She obviously thought the event out somewhat.

She set her hands on Erik's chest as she figured out her course of action, which was fairly easy seeing that her end result was simple and easily obtainable. "Yes, it is the thought that counts. Now put the thought away and take me over to that bed and make me beg for mercy."

"You won't have to ask me twice." Christine grinned when Erik picked her up, and she squealed when he gently tossed her onto the bed before moving over her. He grabbed her arms and pinned her down, and he kissed her when she smirked at him.

. x .

Erik finally convinced Christine to go get dinner and drinks with him and Dustin, Karri, Mitch and Rachel, but she only said yes because it meant a lot to Erik. He did things he didn't want to do for her, so she figured she could return the favor. Plus he made the plan and wouldn't go to London until she met them formally, so she didn't have too much of an option. "Hi it's so great to finally meet everyone." Christine shook everyone's hand, and she smiled before sitting down next to Erik at the table. "I promise I've been wanting to meet you guys, but I didn't want to barge in on sibling bonding." She laid her crutches down next to her so they weren't in anyone's way. Well she hoped they weren't anyway.

"Oh no Erik told us, no worries. So, you're the one who managed to nail this guy down?" Dustin was surprised, he expected, when told about Erik, for him to be a single jackass, but instead he was married and had a son.

"Well I'm the second one to nail him down, but I'm the first one to happily nailed him down, so I kinda wanna take full credit for nailing him down."

"As you should. So… What do you do? Tell us about Christine." She didn't expect that, but she didn't know what to expect, so it was better than nothing.

"Oh well I was born in Texas, raised in Georgia and my parents were killed when I was fifteen. I moved in with my friend, his parents sent me to college and forced me into the field I'm in now, and then once I was out of college my friend and I got engaged. We nearly got married but then I met Erik. I don't really know what else there is. Like those are the big events that summarize my life. I personally find that my story is boring and that someone else should talk now."

"Where did you go to college?" Christine itched her nose while staring at Rachel, who was already on her second drink. Christine almost felt challenged.

"University of New York."

"Oh very impressive. I studied there for a semester but couldn't handle the commute, so I moved to a college closer to my house."

"Yeah I don't do commute. It's time I could be asleep or relaxing."

" _Exactly_. My parents didn't seem to share that view with me, but I paid for college anyway so they didn't really get to have much say despite how much it pained them."

"Wooo for being a grown up." Christine grabbed her beer that Erik ordered her, and she put down a good half of it before setting the glass back down. She needed some booze in her system before a night of socializing.

. x .

They wound up at a bowling alley, and everyone was not fit to be in public so it was going perfectly. Thankfully there weren't any kids out at two am bowling. Christine squealed when she got her third strike in a row, and Erik gave her a celebratory kiss once she hopped back over to him. Erik caught himself when Christine tried knocking him back, but he sure as shit wasn't going to stop kissing her. "Erik we're in public." She patted his chest and grabbed her beer.

"Hmm I know. It's not my fault you're sexy." He nipped at her ear and she blushed.

"You're drunk."

"We're all drunk so I think that is a good but obvious observation."

"Listen smartass once you start helping me win this game I'll give you a blowjob when we get home, but until then you're stuck with going to bed empty handed tonight."

"That is mean. I haven't been bowling in like years. It's not my fault I suck."

"Neither have I but I'm shitting out strikes."

"That imagine is disturbing." Erik grabbed his beer and finished the last of it, then moved on to the extra one he had. "Come on, after this game lets go home and fool around."

"No! God dammit Dustin!" Christine groaned when he got another strike, tieing them up. "Erik go catch us up. One more gutter ball and you're going to bed with blue balls."

"Okay fine." Erik waited for her to get up off his lap so he could stand up, and she took his spot since it was warm. She watched as Erik wiggled his butt before rolling the ball, and she held her breath as it rolled down the lane.

"Oh my god." She balled her hands up into fists as Erik turned and sat back down next to her. The ball hit the pins, and she squealed when all the pins fell down. "Yes! I knew you could do it!" She grabbed his face and started to kiss him, but stopped when Karri stood and grabbed her ball from the rack. She needed to win. There wasn't a prize, she was just competitive. Christine went to take a sip from her beer, then remembered through the haze, that she probably shouldn't have been drinking. "What's wrong? Something in your drink?"

"No I just- with us trying to get pregnant I think I should stop drinking. Obviously what I've drank is done with, but from here on out I should probably stop. I could be pregnant already for all we know."

"Oh… Well you're not pregnant already I know that much. Let me be a good husband and remove the temptation from you." She frowned when Erik took the beer out of her hand and started to chug it.

"How do you know I'm not pregnant?"

Erik took a break from chugging. "Because it took you- oh wait never mind. You got pregnant pretty quick last time… Wait no it took awhile. It only took a month and a half of constant unprotected sex last time to knock your sexy ass up." She smiled as Erik leaned over and kissed her neck.

"Good point. Then gimme my beer back." She took her beer from Erik, and she frowned when he drank almost half of it.

"I'll get you another soon."

Erik reached for his beer, but jumped when Christine suddenly went, "haaaaa!"

"What the hell?"

"She only got four pins. We're still winning!" Christine couldn't help but dance in her seat a little bit.

"I'm gonna beat you in bowling on of these days, Christine." She giggled at Kerri's confidence, when Kerri was in fact going to be surprised down the road.


	42. Chapter 42

Throughout Erik's constant headache of getting his legal situation fixed over the months, he found out he and Christine's marriage license became null and void. Which was shitty. He liked how they were married, but apparently having "forged" legal documents looked "suspicious" and everything he was doing was watched with a fine tooth comb despite having his ass covered. Some things were like "okay no problem", however most needed heavy convincing. Anyway, with the news of the marriage not being a thing anymore, he called Christine into his office.

"What's up sweet cheeks?" Christine shut the door behind her, and she smiled at Erik when he looked as handsome as usual.

Erik sighed as he decided to take the casual, no real problem route with the telling of the news. "Nothing much... So I found out our marriage license is null and void because of the name and forged documents thing. So we have to get remarried."

Christine pursed her lips and sat down on the edge of her desk, taking in the admittedly disappointing, but not day ruining news. "Oh… okay. Guess we need to get remarried, but now that you're closer with your family we can't really just run away and get married."

"I don't know if we're inventing them to our wedding." He said as he sighed, almost as if he had just considered the fact that he now had family that needed to be invited to major life events such as… well… a wedding.

"How many times do we see one or more of them a week?" Christine crossed her arms across her chest as she tried to figure out why in the hell Erik would even consider not inviting his family.

"Like three or four."

"And would you trust any of them to watch any potential children we'll have?"

"I mean of course."

"Then we can invite them to a small wedding. It'll help with our relationships. It'll add to memories that you didn't get to share with them earlier because of not knowing they were a thing." She kicked her shoes off sensing it was going to be a decent length conversation. "We'll get something together in the next few months. I'll re-wear the dress I wore the first time, and we'll find a nice little garden rooftop. Get some cupcakes, find a nice caterer and get a officiant. It'll be cute, inexpensive and fun. We'll hang out with our friends and family for the day and just relax."

"Yeah… So about that future child thing… It's been nearly five months, what do you want to do?" Erik decided to stand up, and he promptly put his hands in his pants pockets to help with any nervous tick the subject brought on.

"I don't know. I feel crampy so I think I'm starting soon, so it obviously didn't happen this month." In all honesty, she wasn't crampy or so sure her period was coming, but with all the close encounters they'd had she figured she'd take a test before letting him know about it.

"Yeah. Maybe there's something wrong with me." Erik sighed as he leaned up against his desk as Christine walked up to him.

"With you?" She put her hands on his cheeks after slipping his mask off. "Erik you got me pregnant before, nothing's changed in you. I on the other hand had a baby die in me and had to give birth to it. Now Mel said it didn't affect my fertility but you never know." Christine took a shaky breath thinking about Alexander, but forced herself to quickly gather herself. Her makeup budget had tripled since losing Alexander, all the crying would absolutely ruin her makeup.

"I think Mel is right. That shouldn't affect you." Erik sat back down in one of the chairs in front of his desk, and Christine promptly moved to standing in front of him.

"Yeah… Well I don't know. We'll talk more about it tonight, I'm just getting started on what's due today so I'm royally fucked." Christine bent over and kissed Erik's cheek, but when he took her hand and pulled her into his lap, she wondered what he was thinking.

"I'll get new due dates for you if you don't have twenty minutes to spare." Christine smiled as Erik slapped her butt, making her grab at his neck.

"Slap harder and I'll have twenty minutes." She giggled when he slapped harder, and he nipped at her neck which cut the giggle short. "Hmm that's what I'm talking about." She tipped his chin up, and she kissed him before working on unbuttoning his jacket. "Oh, baby quick question, are you still planning on firing Carlotta? It's been like five months and the bitch is still here."

And there went any arousal he had. While being on the backburner, Carlotta was still an unnecessarily stressful backburner situation. "I know, and I'm sorry. It's on my list, but I'm trying to find someone who can jump in once she's gone."

"Or you can just give everyone a little bit more work. Why won't you fire her?" Christine tried not to sound whiny, but she was being whiny so it was difficult. "Do you like her or something? You think she's hot don't you? Did you two?" Christine got up out of Erik's lap, and he stood while grabbing at her hand so he could hold it. He wasn't sure how they went from about to have sex to her thinking he cheated on her with Carlotta.

"Christine I don't think she's attractive, no we haven't fucked and because we're so fucking busy if I give you guys more work someone will kill themselves, so I apologize for not firing her. It has been non-stop work since she's gotten here and I can't afford to lose her right now. The minute I find a replacement I'll get rid of her." Erik pulled her up against his body, and Christine stared at the pearl white button on his shirt. "Besides, if I did do something that stupid, wouldn't she have been rubbing it in your face by now? According to you she'd do something like that." Erik stood up, and he took two long steps so he could reach her hand.

"So you have a point… Sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you of that. I just don't trust her, and I've been a little paranoid lately so I just- I'm sorry." She looked up at him, and Erik rubbed her cheek making her legs weak.

"It's okay. She'll be gone by the end of the week. I promise… now while I'm mildly confused on what just happened, can we continue?" He kissed her forehead before moving down and gently kissing her. She deepened the kiss as she undid his shirt, and they both smiled once it was open. Erik shrugged his jacket and shirt off, and Christine couldn't help but kiss his abs once they were available.

"She better. If she's not gone by the end of Friday my little ass is going to be taking a hiatus for however long it takes you to get rid of her, plus a week's interest for every day you don't fire her."

"Well that's quite the incentive." He tried not to smile when she got down on her knees and started undoing his belt.

"Exactly. I don't think you want that long of a break optionally. Besides," she pulled his pants down after unbuttoning them. "I'd hate for you to miss out on fun little moments like this." She bit at his boxers waistband, and Erik nodded while gripping the edge of his desk.

"On it. It'll be done by Friday." Christine smiled, and Erik let out a pent up breath.

"Yay!" She giggled, and Erik rolled his eyes back as he tried to figure out what he was going to do.

. x .

Thursday rolled around, and Christine was doing her best to get through all her work despite her exhaustion, when suddenly a loud bang followed by glass shattering made her yelp and look up from her work. "You little bitch made a huge mistake! You are going to end up worse than your fucking door you cunt! It's not my fault your boyfriend decided to agree to fuck me! I didn't rape him, he _chose to_ just like your stupid friends fiancé! Now you go running to your fucking ugly ass husband, suck his dick and he fires me? No! I'm better than you and your ass is still here, which tells me you had his dick somewhere inside of you almost immediately. Had you not you would've been fired!"

"Carlotta what the hell? You could've broken so much more than my door! You could've hurt or killed someone!" Oddly enough, that's all Christine cared about. The complete recklessness on Carlotta's part. Suddenly her past quarrels didn't matter, she just wanted to clean the glass up to make sure no one got hurt.

"You little slut I don't care! Your nasty ass is going to regret this. Just fucking wait and see!"

"Carlotta what the hell are you doing?!" Christine looked over at Erik who was moving people aside so he could get into the office.

Carlotta tried to calm down, but it was hard to cover the pile of glass on the floor… which quite honestly was an accident on her part. "Nothing. Just talking with Christine before I go since we knew each other in college and all that fun stuff."

"Then explain the fucking door."

"Well I was just so excited to see her I pushed it open a little too hard." Carlotta crossed her arms, and Christine looked down at the pile of glass. She was in shock, she kind to wanted to cry, but mostly hug Erik. "It was an accident."

"Listen, I told you it had nothing to do with Christine. It was your product, lack of interest in getting your shit done, you're never on time, and I've had multiple guys tell me they've dealt with unwanted advancements from you. That isn't suitable behavior. You bring nothing but stress and problems to my job, and now I have to find a new door because you thought it was appropriate to go at my fiancée, accidental or not. Now go get your things before I call security and have your ass thrown out." When Carlotta didn't move, Erik growled.

"Go! If you're not out of here in two minutes I will have HR file a report for sexual harassment for you and make sure you never work in this city again." Carlotta finally bowed her head and hurried away, prompting Erik to look at everyone standing and watching. "Now, is anyone hurt?" When everyone shook their heads he was relieved. "Is anyone interested in paying to replace this door?" Another across the board head shakes. "That's what I thought. So get back to work! This is a business not a soap opera believe it or not." Erik turned and looked at Christine who was staring at the glass on the floor. "Hey, are you okay?" He stepped over it into Christine's office, and when she didn't respond he figured she'd zoned out. "Christine." He poked her cheek, which got her to look over at him.

"Erik I am so sorry I'll replace the door. This was my fault. I let my petty college drama get in the middle of your _business_ and I am so sorry. I became spoiled, and I plan on fixing it."

"No it wasn't, you won't replace the door, I will. I fired her for reasons outside of you wanting her gone, and she- you, dammit Christine. You aren't spoiled, and while I clearly was aware of your disdain for Carlotta her firing was going to occur with or without you liking her. My decisions were mine alone, and I'm sorry to say this, but your opinion on the matter didn't hold any value to me. I can't fire an employee due to any personal vendettas my fianceé has with them. Don't blame yourself for this. _Please_." Erik watched as she stood up, and he knew what he said would more than likely piss her off, but he didn't expect her to gather her things.

"I think I need to go home." When she felt her throat tightening up, and her eyes started to water, meaning she was millimeters away from breaking down, and she quite honestly didn't want to do it in front of Erik or her co-workers. "I'll see you tonight." With her things, Christine stepped over the glass, past Erik and hurried over to the elevator so she could get away from everyone before she lost it.

. x .

. x .

When Christine got home she went straight to the spare bedroom and pulled a pregnancy test out of the box. Her hormones were so thrown off and her reactions were not her usual reactions, so she considered it improbable not to be pregnant. Also her period was late so that was another red flag. She took the test and went into the bathroom so she could pee on it, which was something she'd become a pro at over the months. She had no idea getting pregnant a second time around was going to take so long. Thankfully they weren't pushing it, they were just going along hoping it happened each time they'd have sex, but the constant disappointment wasn't the best thing for them. Which was why she wasn't letting him know of the possibility until she knew.

She played hit the tiny rectangle with absolutely no control on aiming long enough or else try again later game, then cleaned up and washed her hands after putting the cap on the test. She grabbed her phone, set the timer and sat down on the toilet to wait.

She was doing a crossword puzzle when Erik's name popped up on her phone, and she sighed before answering it. "Hey."

" _Hey… I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, I just was stressed out, and I didn't want you to think the door, or Carlotta was your fault. You influencing her termination or not, she didn't have any right to react how she did. At least you kept your… qualms behind closed doors where only I could hear them… a wife unloading on her husband. You shouldn't feel bad about that._ "

"It's okay. Really. I just have to remember you're also the boss, and I need to keep work drama for friends, not you. I'll see you tonight, and I'll email you my work as I finish it. I won't screw you over on that account either." Christine hung up, and she rubbed her temples as she watched her clock tick down, bringing her closer to hopefully explain why she was feeling so depressed all of the sudden. She just wanted to sit and cry, and suddenly she was suddenly able to blame every single one of Erik's problems on her and her recklessness.

. x .

. x .

Christine sat down on the couch with the test in her hands once the result popped up, and to her realization, only when Erik rubbed her cheek, she'd been sitting staring at the test since sitting down. She blinked when the house was dark, minus a lamp Erik must have turned on when coming in. She quite honestly hadn't turn any lights on when she came home. "Sorry." She pulled her sweater sleeves further down her arms after slipping the test in her pocket.

"For what?" Erik knelt down in front of her, and when she seemed like she still wasn't completely aware of his presence, he set his hand on her knee and squeezed it gently. "Christine? Are you okay? Do we need to refill your Zoloft from after we lost Alexander?"

"I don't think I can take it." Christine's eyes started to water for the upteenth time that day, and she sniffed as she wiped her cheeks off.

"And why is that?" Erik sat down next to her on the couch, and he tried to figure out what to do to console his crying fiancee. Reasons of her crying however, were unknown to him. "Please talk to me, baby. I want to help." He started to rub her back, and when she hiccuped before looking at him, he felt like she was about to drop a cancer bomb or something.

"I- I- I'm pregnant." She wasn't sure why it was making her crying, but she had to realize that was sort of the main side effect of pregnancy. Unprovoked mood swings. She was thrilled for the next seven to eight months if the beginning months were already becoming hellish.

"Is there a reason this brings you tears? Or are you just going through one of your many inevitable moods for the week?"

"Hopefully the latter. I just don't want to distract you from work when it's so busy. I don't want to cause another problem seeing that I already caused you thousands of dollars today."

"Isn't this what we wanted? We've been going at it like rabbits to try and get pregnant, and now you're acting like I've given you breast cancer. If this isn't what you want just let me know, and we can terminate it and keep it as just me and you for a few more years." Erik didn't mean a single word of the last bit he had said, but if she'd changed her mind in the last five hours he sure as hell wasn't going to force her into anything.

"I want this, I'm just in a funk." She took a deep breath, and when Erik kissed her temple before standing up, she wondered where he was going.

"I'm going to go get a bath started for you. Let's try and wash off this funk of yours." Erik disappeared down the hall mostly since ninety percent of the house was still drenched in darkness.

Christine roamed into the bathroom after several minutes had passed, and she nibbled at her nail as Erik dipped his finger into the nearly full bathtub to check the temperature. Seeing that it was ready, she took the test out of her pocket, then proceeded to undress. "It's not as hot as you normally like it."

"Understandable." She smiled half heartedly as he stood up, grabbed the lighter off his vanity to her abundance of candles she had surrounding the tub, and proceeded to light them all. He wouldn't rest until he had his Christine back so they could celebrate their expansion. "Thank you for the bath." She walked over, and she sat down on the edge of the tub before looking over at Erik as he finished the last of the candles.

"You're very welcome, beautiful." He smiled as he looked over at her, and he didn't let it falter when he saw the dark circles under her eyes, as well as the red puffiness he hated seeing. "C'mon, hop in and enjoy the warmth while you can."

"Did the glass get cleaned up?" Christine dipped her foot in the tub before slowly lowering herself completely in, and before sinking into the water, she grabbed her bath scrunchy and pulled her hair up into a bun so it wouldn't get wet.

"It did, and I have a new door being delivered in two days, so you'll have your perceived privacy back soon enough." He watched as she sunk down into the water, stopping at her chin so she could still talk. "Seeing that a glass door in a glass room doesn't do too much besides stop conversations being overheard."

"True. I really am sorry about the door, Erik. Even if I didn't have a hand in her being fired, I didn't stop you from hiring her."

"I didn't disclose her name. Had I we would've saved ourselves a bit of trouble." He took a deep breath and smiled, not caring about the door or Carlotta. All he cared about at that moment in time was his fianceé and his child. "But, I don't care. Lesson learned and we'll move on. I just want you to know, Christine, that I care what you have to say, what you think, and about your problems. I want to know about them, work or not work related as your fiancé. Don't hide your problems from me because I'm your boss."

"Get in." She didn't want to keep talking about things that were only making her funk worse. "Let's just sit and relax, and enjoy knowing we can get back to having sex without a big purpose." She moved to the side of the tub, and when Erik started unbuttoning his shirt she hid her smile under the water.

"Your mood swings are going to be… interesting." He noticed her eyes crinkling meaning she was smiling, and when she moved up, deciding to no longer hide her smile, Erik chuckled. "But we'll make it through them. Nothing baths, backrubs and talking can't get us through."

"Your optimism is inspiring." She set her hand on his leg as he shrugged his shirt off, and she moved her hand up to his stomach and dug her nails in as he undid his pants.

"I'm sure it is." He kicked his shoes off before standing up, and he pulled his pants and boxers off along with his socks, then he slowly climbed into the tub, avoiding making any unnecessary splashes as he sat down. He wrapped his arms around her as she moved in between his legs, and she laid back against his chest as he laced his legs around hers. "I love you, Christine. Never forget that." He brushed several baby curls up into her hair before kissing the back of her neck, and when she faintly moaned as she sighed, Erik could feel his whiplash coming on already.

"I love you too." She ran her hands down his thighs, stopping at his knees before turning so she could look at him. She nibbled at her lip before pulling his mask off, and she tossed it onto his pile of clothes before kissing him. Erik, while seeing it coming, hesitated for a moment given she was just acting as if she were ready to end it all not even two minutes prior. Christine turned completely, and she moved onto his lap instead of between his legs so he was more tempted to touch her. At that point she felt his confusion by him holding his hands up and away from her, as if he were afraid to touch her. "Touch me." She trailed her kisses down to his neck as he trailed her hand down his stomach, and Erik's breathing hitched as he grabbed her hand before it could get any lower.

"You were just making me consider getting you your anti-depressants and now you want to have sex?"

"I told you it was probably just a mood swing, and I was right. So you have nothing to worry about." She took his hands, and she put them on her hips before returning his attention back to his neck. She nipped at his adam's apple before kissing down to his chest, where she all too happily felt up with her hands as she adored each inch of what was above water. "I want you." She smiled before looking up at him, and when he seemed to be considering his options given her recent mood, she tried not to seem too annoyed.

"Were your mood swings this bad with Alexander?"

"I don't remember. I just remembered plotting to kill you for quite some time." 

"Oh." Erik took that as a definite yes, given she was the one who broke up with him. He'd done nothing to earn her murder plans. "Let's enjoy the bath, then we can talk about sex."

"I don't want to talk about it, I want to do it." She grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck as she pressed her chest against his, and Erik his body literally betraying what his mind knew was the best plan of action. He wanted to, but he wanted to just relax with her given her recently passed mood, but he knew turning her down would hurt her self confidence, which he really didn't want to do. He tried reasoning that had she not wanted to do anything she wouldn't have been doing what she was doing. He still felt… dirty even thinking about having sex with her after the last twenty minutes.

"And believe me I do too, but maybe you should just relax and enjoy yourself given your gloom you just were in for I'm assuming for quite some time."

"Are you wanting me to masturbate so you don't have to have sex?" Christine wasn't sure how to handle his recommendation.

"No I want you to sit in your bath with me, then get out, wrap up in some comfortable pajamas and get into bed and relax. Watch some TV, read a book and stuff like that while I make us dinner."

"Or we can order Chinese food and we can have sex." She smirked knowing at least part of Erik's body was on her side, and currently pressing against her butt. "If us having sex after a bad mood swing is going to be this difficult we might as well give up till after I have the baby and we can have sex again."

"I guess you have a point there." Erik sighed as Christine panicked, worried that Erik would take her suggestion to heart. "If I must. Don't twist my arm though." Erik kissed her, and she whimpered as he ran his hands down her hips and onto her butt, where he promptly squeezed as she nipped at his tongue when he grazed her lip. "Well aren't you feisty today." Erik stated matter of factly, and when she giggled he didn't doubt his observation. "We should move this to the bed where it's far more comfortable and lacking water."

"That's not a bad idea." She locked her hands as he slowly stood up with her in his arms still, and once they were out Erik hurried into their room where he gently laid her down on the bed. He moved between her legs as she ran her nails his chest, stopping by his happy trail.

. x .

. x .

Christine felt like overnight she went from a flat stomach to a bump showing. It's only been two weeks since they found out, and after she got some rest the night she and Erik found out she was ecstatic knowing she was pregnant.. She and Erik left work at lunch time for her appointment with Mel, who was surprised to see them in. Then she remembered Christine had taken her birth control out which did lead to pregnancy when having unprotected sex. So she wasn't in surprised in the slightest. "So you two finally did it?"

"Well we did it a lot, but I'm finally pregnant."

"Smartass." Mel continued along with setting the uterus probe up, which always made Christine happy. "Well congrats. When was your last period?"

"Seven weeks ago."

"Hm… So you're almost two months."

"Yeah. So am I supposed to be showing this much? I didn't look like this till about three months or four with Alexander. I'm nervous."

"You're fine. Everyone carries differently, plus you show more with your second. So it's perfectly fine." Mel pushed the foot rests out for Christine, and she set her feet up then looked over at Erik who was on his phone.

"Hey, future child's appointment, wanna put work away for a little bit?" Erik finished typing email before putting his phone away in his pocket.

"Yeah sorry. Nadir had a question."

"It's okay." Christine squeezed his knee, and Erik set his hand over her's.

"Since you're at seven weeks you don't get the vaginal probe as you like to call it. Just the abdominal ultrasound."

"Oh no how will I live?" Christine happily put her feet back down as Mel pulled the ultrasound cart over, and while she grabbed the gel Christine rolled her shirt up. She had to admit, she was quite happy with the change of plans.

"Don't test me. I'll use the probe anyway." Christine giggled as Mel grabbed the paddle from the tray. "Okay." Mel sighed as she squeezed the gel onto Christine's stomach, then proceeded to spread the gel around looking for the little one. It didn't take long for her to find a more definitive answer on why Christine was showing more. "So… I have some news."

"Oh god is the baby not okay?" Christine's chest tightened as she tried not to panic, and Erik squeezed her hand in attempt to calm her down.

"No they're fine." Mel smiled, and she looked at Christine who was dealing with her near miss with a panic attack.

"Fuck don't scare me like that." Christine took a deep breath to subdue the crippling anxiety she was dealing with.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I just noticed something." Mel turned the monitor around, and Erik and Christine both looked for what they were supposed to be seeing.

Erik's stomach twisted up and he was ready to vomit when he saw what Mel was trying to point out. "There's only supposed to be one dot isn't there? Like when you're only having one baby…"

"Bingo."

"Oh fuck." Realization hit as Christine noticed the second dot, and her anxiety that had started to fade flared up again. "Twins? Ha… I don't have twins in my family." Christine covered her face with her arms, and she felt herself starting to sweat. She wasn't unhappy, but she was definitely overwhelmed.

"Yeah twins do happen. So, you're seven weeks along, and your due date is looking to be about May thirtieth of next year."

"Just give me a minute I'm trying not to puke." Christine was fairly certain she didn't have the mental capability for twins.

. x .

. x .

Christine and Erik went to lunch after the appointment was over with, and they both sat in silence for a good twenty minutes just processing the fact that they were taking on two babies at once. If they were being honest, they were working through anxiety and talking just made them want to vomit. "Holy fucking shit." Christine looked up from her soup at Erik who was swirling the ice around his glass of whiskey.

"Pretty much. How the fuck are we supposed to take care of twins?"

"I'm more worried about breast feeding. I'll definitely feel like a cow. How am I supposed to breastfeed two babies? Are they going to know? Oh my god my body isn't going to bounce back from this. Be ready for saggy boobs, ass and stretch marks because I'm five two and twins are going to _destroy_ me."

"Oh you'll always be beautiful to me." Erik rubbed her hand, and Christine didn't need pregnancy sense of smell to smell the bullshit.

"That lie was almost offensive it was so painfully untrue. Like if you're gonna brown nose me make it believable." Christine took her hand away, and Erik tried figuring out how he lied to her.

"I didn't lie. Christine have you seen my face? Do you think I have any rights to judge people on their appearances? Besides, I love you. I'll always find you beautiful." Erik put his hand out as a peace offering, and Christine tried to reign her hormones in before taking his hand. She felt the hormones messing with her brain and emotions meaning she has the chance to hold them in and control them. "So, let's just put this out there now. Our house is not big enough to bring twins into. Sure they can share a room for a few years, but after that? We get to move with two toddlers. So I say, let's start looking for a bigger place, move while you're pregnant and just be done. I'll cancel the contractor and the work he's planning to do, and we'll just move."

"Yeah good point. So I'm sorry I'm being so snappy. It's just how I am right now. I was the same way last time, but you didn't even know because you thought I was mad at you despite me breaking up with you. Anyway, I'm a little snippy right now so I'm sorry for anything I may say."

"It's okay. I figured your hormones were giving you a hard time. Plus we're still processing twins which is really big news." Erik felt his head start to spin once again after saying twins out loud.

" _Really_ big news." Christine lifted her shirt up and shook her head at the size of her bump for only being seven weeks pregnant. "I'm not even an eighth of the way through the pregnancy and I'm already getting big."

"Well you are a nugget and are growing two children in you so I'm not surprised, but I am concerned. Is your body able to handle two children?"

"I mean it can handle it, but it won't be fun." She let her shirt drop, and she tried not to freak out over it all. "I… Need a drink." With all the stress she was dealing with she was desperate for one, but funnily enough the reason she needed a drink was also the reason she couldn't have one.

"Not for seven months. Maybe this will help with your drinking."

"Hey it's been getting better. It was just back when we first lost Alexander was when it was the worst."

"It's still pretty bad for both of us. Remember last month when we woke up in the living room surrounded by celery?"

"Yeah and the night before I'd been thinking about Alexander. I get drunk because I don't know how to process my emotions very well, and you just do what I do. We're not the best people for each other in terms of drinking."

"Well now you have to figure out how to process those pesky emotions. I know you didn't have a chance to figure your emotions out with your parents, but you're safe here and can mourn over our child properly. You don't have to keep it bottled up inside and drink to press it down again."

"I do mourn. I cry all the time. In the shower, in the bathroom, when I'm alone and all that. It's just I get tired of the crying. I get tired of it." Christine rest her head in her hand, the emotional and physical exhaustion she was dealing with was starting to take a toll on her. She needed a vacation.


	43. Chapter 43

I... have no excuses lol. Enjoy, and I should be posting a new story in the next month or so. I'm getting into proof reading and making any final changes now so it's close!

Christine couldn't stop growing, and Erik kept coming up empty handed with wedding venues, until one day he felt the need to burst in on her shower. "Hey I have some good news."

"Which is?" Christine stared at him standing on the platform that led into the shower.

"We found a venue that's available in two weeks. It's a garden that has a view of the Hudson. It's plenty big for how many people will be there."

"Seriously?" She tried not to get excited in case he was being an asshole, but when he nodded, she couldn't help but smile. "That's great news. Now I just need to find a new dress. I'm the size of a killer whale and I'm only three months pregnant. So find food and cake. The rest we don't need."

"Okay I'm on it." Erik went to leave, but stopped when he forgot something. "Oh and also, Christine?"

"Hm?" She continued rinsing her loofa out.

"You look beautiful tonight." She felt herself blush, and she watched Erik smirk before walking away leaving her to enjoy the rest of her shower.

. x .

Christine was woken up that night to her phone buzzing, and she groaned while reaching for the nuisance which was on the nightstand. When it was Meg she was forced to answer it. "Hello?" She sat up while listening to Meg talk to someone in the background.

"Hey I'm sorry for waking you up, but I'm stranded at JFK because I'm literally broke and need a ride home."

"Oh… Yeah sure I'll pick you up. Why are you at JFK?" Christine patted Erik's shoulder when he was getting ready to get up, and she kissed him on the forehead so he'd go back to bed. "And why are you broke?"

"Because I've been down with my mom and had to quit my job so I could help her. Now I have to start a job hunt tomorrow because I don't have much in savings, but my savings are at home in cash form."

"Is that where you've been the past few months?" Christine slipped her shorts on then found a tank top that was on the floor before disappearing into the closet for some shoes. "What's wrong with Annie?" She squinted when she flicked the light on seeing that it felt like the sun was in the closet.

"Yeah, and nothing. Business just was picking up and everyone was leaving for school or a different job so she had no help. Anyway, everything is fine now. But had I not gone down she would've killed herself trying to get it all sorted out or lost the restaurant."

"Yeah. Well text me where you are. I'm leaving now." Christine slipped her black flats on and left the closet after turning the light off.

"Okay. Thank you so much, see you in a few."

"Yeah no problem. Bye."

Christine hung the phone up, and she put the phone in her sports bra. "Where are you going at four in the morning?" Christine looked over at Erik who was laying down but awake.

"Airport. Meg needs a ride. She has no money at the moment. I'll be back." She walked over and pecked him on the lips, and she could tell he was struggling to stay awake.

"Want me to come with?" He took her hand and rubbed her wrist, and she smiled to reassure him.

"No I got this. You have to be up early for that meeting, remember?" She patted his chest before taking her hand away, then took several steps towards that door.

"Yeah, but it's late."

"And I'm more awake than you are. Go back to sleep, I'll see you in the morning. I love you."

"Okay… Love you too. Be safe." Erik shut his eyes before Christine could even leave the room meaning he would've been a lousy passenger. She grabbed her purse and the car keys from the dining room table on her way to the door, then left the house.

. x .

Christine pulled up to the curb and couldn't help but smile at the sight of Meg. She'd missed her over the past few months. Christine popped the trunk, and Meg loaded her bags in then hurried to the passenger door. The door opened, and the squealing commenced, which Christine couldn't partake in for too long because… Well she forgot to pee before leaving the house. They hugged, and Meg pulled away when Christine's breast felt like they'd been enlarged. "Girl did you get a boobjob?"

"No. I did something far more expensive." Christine turned the light on above them, lighting the area up enough for Meg so see the bump.

Meg's mouth dropped at the sight of the dump, and she had so many questions. "Are you pregnant again?"

"Yep."

"How far along? You have to be at least five or six months. We're y'all trying?"

"Three months, and yeah. We started trying a couple weeks after you disappeared."

Meg couldn't help but touch her friend's stomach, she just loved pregnant bellies. "Three months? How many are in there?" Christine bit back a panicked smile as she held up two fingers, and Meg squealed once again. "Twins?! Oh my god you two are so fucked! That's amazing though, twins… I'm so happy for you two Christine." Meg retried the hug now that she had her question answered, which went much better than the original. "I'm glad you two were able to heal and find the courage to try again. You'll be such good parents."

"Thank you so much, Meg. Now I'm really tired so I'm gonna take you home, but tomorrow we're getting lunch."

"Sounds good. I'm exhausted." Meg yawned, and she reached for her seatbelt while Christine worked on getting onto the road. Christine wanted to talk and catch up some, but she was just too tired.

. x .

She dropped Meg off and hurried her ass home so she could get some more sleep, but when she got home Erik was up and in the shower. "Babe I'm home, and I'm gonna go sleep in the guest bedroom so you can get ready with no problems." She she stood absentmindedly watching him rinse his hair out, and crossed her arms when he smiled.

"Sounds good. Thanks for letting me know you were home. Come into work once you get some more sleep, okay? Don't worry about being on time."

"Alright. Thank you. I love you, and good luck with that meeting."

"I love you too, and thank you." Christine tapped the wall before leaving the bathroom, and trudging across the house to the guest room. She shut the blackout drapes then nearly collapsed onto the bed. Even if she had wanted to stay awake, she couldn't have fought the sleep off any longer.

. x .

She woke up to an arm wrapped around her, and she panicked at first, but then she realized it was Erik's arm and she was no longer inclined to scream. "Erik? What are you doing home?" She shifted some when her hip had gone numb somehow.

"Well, I'm tired and it's noon so I figured I should come and see if you were alive still. You slept through your alarm for three hours. That's impressive." He kissed the back of her neck as he pulled her closer to his body.

"Oh crap. I'm sorry, Erik. I'll get ready now." She went to sit up, but Erik stopped her, which prompted her to lie back down.

"No don't worry about it. Just keep lying here." She untensed after Erik nuzzled his face against her back which meant she was good for sleeping in.

"Am I allowed to go back to sleep or are we just lying here for a couple minutes?"

"Sleep." Erik moved his hand over Christine's stomach, and she managed a smile despite being mostly asleep while sliding her arm over his.

. x .

With a two hour nap under their belts, they went into work to finish up the rest of the day once Christine was ready to go. Thankfully Christine only had one assignment due so she didn't feel awful for sleeping all day. She actually felt great for sleeping all day. With business still busy it was refreshing not to worry about anything for a little while.

Christine was standing in the break room during her twenty minute end of the day break, reading an article on how often you should wash your hair. Every day or every other day? She felt like it was like peanut butter, some prefer smooth, and some prefer chunky, but apparently there was science behind it. She had her cup of tea next to her phone, and was slowly stirring it to cool it down. She looked over when someone walked in, and she smiled when it was Erik. "Hey."

"Hey there, Beautiful. What'cha reading?" Erik came up behind her and hugged her.

"Oh just how often you should wash your hair. Apparently every other day is better for it."

"Interesting… So I was wondering, do you feel like having some fun tonight? I know you've been pretty uninterested so if you're not that's fine, I just miss being with you like that."

"Oh god did you just ask if we could have sex tonight?" She set her magazine down disappointedly as she mentally kicked herself seeing that she physically couldn't. Christine hated that she let it get to the point where Erik had to awkwardly ask. "It hasn't been that long has it?"

"The day you told me you were pregnant, so like a month ago or so."

"Fuck. I'm so sorry, I fucked up. I refuse to answer your question because that means we officially pre-planned sex, so just wait and see." Christine took his hands, and she squeezed his hands while moving closer to him.

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't fuck up, and you don't need to apologize, you're just a bit preoccupied right now."

"Because it's going on two years that we've been together and you just asked if we could do it tonight. That is my biggest failure. That's ten years minimum with me. I swore that when I was in college, I'd watch these movies where the girl was never in the mood so he went like four months without sex, and it's just shitty to me. If you don't want to have sex with them anymore breakup. So I promised myself my future guy would never ask for sex, but, here it is happening."

"Christine it's okay, really. There's no reason to beat yourself up over it." He kissed her cheek while rubbing her stomach, and she sighed while trying not to beat herself up. "Is that tea?"

"Decaf. I just like the stirring it. Plus I have a cup every break, it's a ritual now."

"Oh I was just asking. It smells good."

"Want a sip?" She picked the mug up and turned around so he could take it if he wanted to, and she smiled when he took the cup from her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's this peach decaf tea I found online. It's pretty good. I think I'm going to order some pomegranate and strawberry flavored ones too."

"Mm yeah that is really good. Order a lot because I'm gonna steal some… Oh speaking of ordering things online, come with me." Erik took her hand, and she followed him out of the break room and over to his office. He shut the door once they were inside, and he gave her the tea back before hurrying over to his desk.

"Did you buy me that big black dildo I had on my Christmas list last year?"

"No. I looked into it but it was smaller than me so I figured it was useless." She giggled as he pulled out a small wedding themed gift bag, and then he held it out for her. "Don't think this is your wedding present. It's a pre-wedding present that I've been working on since we eloped, but the name changes- yeah. It's taken awhile. Sorry if it's the wrong time, I just want you to have it."

"Oh?" She walked up to his desk and set her phone and tea down, then took the pearl colored bag from him. She smiled as she pulled the tissue paper out, and tried to hide her curiosity when a silver square box was in the bag. Surely it wasn't a charm bracelet. "Let's see what's inside the silver box. Lemme guess, earrings?"

"Nope." Erik watched as she pulled the box out and shimmied the lid off. She furrowed her brows when it was four cards, and a key of some sort.

"What?"

"Credit cards and debit cards for my accounts. I want you to have access to them so you don't have to worry about me being around if you need to buy something."

"Erik-"

"And a house key because that slipped my mind. Now the cards have my last name on them, but the cards can't be activated until I send them proof of our marriage." Christine read the last name seeing that she'd never heard it before, and she snorted when it was Bonner. "Yeah I know. It got worse."

"No it's great." Christine struggled to keep a straight face as Erik sighed. "I can't wait to be Christine Bonner. It has a good ring to it." She set the box down, and when she saw the dead look in Erik's eyes she busted out laughing. "I can't believe! Out of all the last names!" She hugged herself while leaning against his desk, and Erik walked around over to her. "It's Bonner! I can't believe this! I mean it explains you completely so it's perfect, but wow. The odds are impressive." She wiped the tears from her eyes as she tried to calm down for Erik's sake.

"I seem pretty good at beating the odds… but you're right, I seem to always have a Bonner for you." Erik smirked when her cheeks puffed out and she snorted almost.

"God no shit." Her laughing fit simmered down to giggles, which soon came to a stop, which Erik appreciated. She looked up at him and smiled while getting rid of the last of her tears. "In all seriousness I can't wait to be Christine Bonner. So, was Erik your actual name or?"

"Uh no but due to every single reason you can probably think of, I decided to stick with Erik."

"Good call. So what was your name?" Christine found the entire situation amusing for some reason. It felt as if they were learning about his alter ego that neither of them knew about.

"I was originally Carlisle…" Erik waited for a reaction, but when she finally just scrunched her face up he laughed.

"I'm glad you kept Erik. It suits you."

"Yeah I'm glad too." Erik wrapped his arm around her waist, then kissed her temple as she stared up at him, and he suddenly had the urge to spoil her. "After work do you want to go see a musical? I know you said you like them so… Pick one and we'll go."

"Really?" She looked up at him, and she smiled when he nodded. "I've been wanting to see this one called Disinterest. It's a comedy about the daily life of adults. It's closing soon because it obviously wasn't that too big of a hit, but I still want to see it."

"Then we'll see that one. We'll grab a nice dinner before and just make a night out of it. Sound good?"

"It sounds perfect." She kissed his side before moving away and gathering all the cards up to put them back in the bag. "I should get back to work." She kissed his chest, and she knew she shared the same sentiments when he hesitantly let go.

"Yeah I should too. I hope you're comfortable with the presents. I figured we're married so it's time for you to have access to my accounts."

"I mean I'm not uncomfortable, but at the same time I am, because it's a lot of money, and it's surreal knowing someone trusts me like that. What about you having access to my account? I mean there's not as much as what you have, but it's still a good amount."

"Keep it there. I have my own side account with money in it too so just keep it for emergencies or whatever. Collect interest maybe." He tapped her butt before grabbing his cell phone when it buzzed. When it was an email he tossed it back on his desk. Nothing that couldn't wait.

"Oh I have been. I've gotten a little over fifty thousand in ten years from it."

When Erik's face scrunched up in disgust, Christine suddenly felt like a moron. "That's a disgustingly low return. What bank is it in?"

"Some tiny one from Georgia. I need to move it to a better bank but I keep forgetting."

"I'll get my accountant to work on moving it to my bank. The annual return is five percent. That gets you a hundred thousand every year if you have the two million in there. Get me all the information and I'll send it over to him."

"Aw thank you. That helps a lot, and wow that is low… I could have so much more had I gotten it moved when I originally thought about it." Once again she found herself mentally kicking herself.

"Eh we all make mistakes. Moving two million dollars is quite the challenge when you don't have the knowledge of how to do it. Even I don't really know how to do it."

"Yeah… Well I'm gonna get back to work now. We can finish this talk tonight. Love you." She brought Erik's head down so she could peck him on the cheek, and he returned the peck before standing up.

"I love you too." He lightly slapped her butt, and she giggled while leaving his office.


	44. Chapter 44

With the help of Meg, Annie, Rachel, Patricia and Karri, Christine found a new wedding dress that didn't make it look like she was wearing a toga. It was a simple a-line dress with a sweetheart neckline, and nothing had to be done to it besides hemming the bottom so the dress wasn't so long. Even with heels it was deathly long to make up for the assumed large bump the dress was built around. Thankfully she wasn't that big yet. She got a pair of white heels to match, and a small net veil that covered part of her face, and was attached to a jeweled hair piece. It wasn't anything fancy, just enough to pass off as a wedding. She was glad they didn't elope again, it gave her a bonding opportunity with everyone which was needed. She already loved everyone, but there was still memories to be made and friendships to be strengthened.

"It's so weird." Christine and all the girls were sitting in her and Erik's bathroom getting their hair and makeup done.

"What?" Meg looked at Christine in the mirror since she didn't want to mess her hair dressers progress. She'd learned earlier that making her hair dresser stop for a moment was absolutely not something she should do.

"I'm nervous. I mean I've married him once before and we didn't optionally unmarry so I don't know why I'm nervous." Christine wrung her hands together as she tried sorting through her thoughts, but when she got through one, three more popped up.

"Well I would be too. This bathroom is huge, and he bought this bathroom. That's impressive. Like it's bigger than my entire apartment probably."

"It is a huge bathroom. I don't know your entire apartment though, maybe your room and bathroom combined? Some of your kitchen?" Christine giggled as Meg rolled her eyes.

"I thought I had a great bathroom for New York City until I saw this bathroom." Christine looked at Karri after finishing picking a piece of hair off her hand.

"God right? I mean my last apartment was pretty great, but it turned to shit after I saw this bathroom. I still can't believe I get to shower in it everyday." Christine couldn't help but smile, thinking about what had taken place in the shower the night before.

Meg, who of course saw opportunity in everything, decided to chime in again. "Yeah and you'll get to for the rest of your life thanks to the kiddos. You're smart, you locked his ass down." Everyone laughed, and Christine tried not to think of it that way. She had a baby with the guy she loved, she wasn't locking him down. He wanted the baby too.

"Well y'know. All my attempts seem to come up short. Last baby died, we got married, it became void, and now it's attempt number two for both of my attempts. It better work."

"Let me get this straight, you dumped him and now you're hurrying to lock him down? Girl." Christine felt the sass radiating off of Meg.

"Yeah. I appreciate him more than ever now though. So less judgy and more silence… God I hope he things I look good. I don't want to look like I'm wearing a pillow case."

"You won't baby cakes. Besides you're beautiful, pillow case or not. He better find you beautiful in anything." Christine blushed at Patricia's compliment, she just wasn't used to compliments. It was mind blowing knowing someone took the time out of their day to think of something nice to say to her.

. x .

Christine walked out onto the rooftop, and she smiled when everyone was standing waiting for her. It was so quaint. There were plants everywhere, and there a small altar that got put up somehow completely covered in red roses. But most importantly, it had Erik underneath it who was wearing his tux. She couldn't help but stand there and watch him talk to Rick and Karri. He was laughing, and he even hugged Rick which surprised her. She didn't know he'd gotten to hug levels with Rick. She was surprised, but happy.

Erik glanced over her way, and when his face lit up with a smile, she looked down and blushed so he didn't see. "Excuse me, Miss?"

Christine held in her laugh as she looked up at Erik. "Yes?"

"If I may say, you light up this rooftop. Who's the lucky fellow who gets to call you his?"

"Oh well I do say, I believe he's standing right in front of me."

"I- I am the lucky bastard? Are you sure? I'd be damned if I forgot about loving a beautiful woman such as yourself." Erik tucked a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

Christine lowered her voice as her smile faded. "Well I guess you're damned then." Though, Erik being Erik, he made her smile when he leaned down as if he was going to kiss her, but to her demise, didn't.

"Your love redeems me." She blushed as he pressed his lips against hers, and she set her hands on his shoulders as the kiss deepened. To her disappointment, Erik ended it all too soon. "You're breathtaking, Christine."

"Thank you. You look rather handsome in your tux."

"Thank you. So, ready to get married? I know I'm ready." Erik took her hand as they took a couple steps closer to everyone, but stopped again.

"I'm ready. Mostly because that barbecue looks amazing and it smells like heaven."

"Well you said barbecue so I got you barbecue knowing that you'd probably eat my hand if I didn't get you barbecue."

"Yes thank you. I've been craving it since before I got pregnant. Is it a short and sweet version again?"

"Would we have it any other way?"

"Mmm… Getting married? No. Other things… Yes."

"Well I know how our evening is going to go now." Erik slapped her butt as she laughed, and they walked over to everyone so the evening could get started. "Guys, this lovely woman is ready to get married, so I say we get that done so we can skip to the fun part of the evening. Dancing, food and drinks."

"I think everyone here can agree to that plan." Everyone nodded making Nadir smile since it meant Erik couldn't give him shit for being wrong.

"Awesome. So… I guess we just stand up there?" Christine was confused.

"Yeah come on up here you guys." She was relieved when the officiant, Greg, gave them a bit of direction. "Short and sweet still?"

"If it's not over in a minute or less it's too long." Christine took Erik's hand, and she couldn't help but smile. Sure their weddings were a bit unconventional but she loved them.

"So very short and sweet then. I can do that. Well, everyone if you'd please take your seats." Christine smiled as she and Erik turned to face one another, and they took one another's hands. "Thank you everyone for joining us, per the bride and groom's request this is going to be a short ceremony so don't get comfortable." He coughed away from everyone before opening his book, then shutting it. "Do you, Erik Bonner take Christine Daae to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward?"

"I do." Erik took her rings out of his pocket and slipped them back onto her finger where they belonged.

"And Christine Daae, do you take Erik Bonner to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward?"

"I do." She pulled the ring out of her bra and slipped it onto Erik's finger, and Erik did his best not to laugh.

"Well then, Erik, you may kiss the bride." Christine wanted to jump on him, but seeing that she couldn't, she pulled him down to her level, but he kissed her before she could get her arms around his neck. She squealed as Erik picked her up, and the clapping was more of a background noise than actual people at the event for Christine. She could've kissed him for five hours straight and wouldn't have cared, because with him, the world faded around her when she was with him. Kissing him was an escape from reality where only they existed, and that was a world where she could live blissfully for the rest of her life.

. x .

Christine ditched her shoes not long after the ceremony seeing that her feet hurt. There was dancing to be done, and food to be eaten, she wasn't gonna let some sore feet ruin her fun.

After a few slower songs for her and Erik to dance to, they got the faster pop songs, which were a blast. She'd never seen Erik have so much fun dancing, especially with someone not her, but when her and Meg sat down to take a break, he was still dancing with his mom and sisters. She never expected him to get so comfortable with them, so seeing him in a situation where you couldn't tell what happened to their family, it was quite the sight. "So are you happy to be married again?"

"Yeah. I mean it doesn't feel much different to being engaged or just dating, but it still feels nice. I'm excited about life again. I mean I have been for awhile, but it's a nice feeling. I forgot what it felt like."

"Yeah it is pretty great. I'm so glad you found someone who gave you that feeling again. I know you wanted to love Raoul, but you would've been miserable." Meg rubbed Christine's shoulder, because just thinking about everything her friend had been through was disheartening yet almost inspiring. To see Christine where she was in life knowing what she'd gone through.

"Yeah I know. But hey, the past is the past, and all we can do is move on. Right?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself. So now all of my friends are officially married and have babies, and here I am… Single. This sucks."

"Oh you'll find someone sooner or later. Maybe I can find one of Erik's business friends." Christine smirked as Meg tried not to seem excited.

"Yeah sure. Good luck…" Meg sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Brown hair please."

"On it."

There was a silence, thankfully it wasn't awkward. "I can't believe Erik was kidnapped as a baby. That's insane."

"And that his last name is Bonner."

"And your last name is Bonner now too." Christine tried to think of a retaliation, but instead she snorted before swatting Meg's arm.

"Shut up, bitch." Meg giggled as Christine rubbed her stomach, and Christine smiled and waved at Erik when he looked over at her.

"Hey, Bonner isn't a bad name if you love the guy."

"The amount of boner jokes we make is sickening. You'd think we're in high school."

"Taking a break?" Erik stuffed his hands into his pockets as he stopped in front of the two women. One looking a bit more tired than the other.

"Yeah my feet are sore. Plus I ate too much." Christine laid her head back, and Erik pulled a chair up in front of Christine.

"Gimme your feet. I'll massage them for you." Christine pep talked herself before lifting one leg up, then repeated the process with the second leg.

"You two gross me out."

"It's not my fault he gives me foot massages when they hurt. Besides you'll love it when you find someone to do it to you too."

"Yeah I know. So congratulations Mister and Misses Bonner. If I may say, loving the last name." Meg couldn't help but laugh, especially when Erik shook his head.

"The last name couldn't be any better... I'm just happy that I found a place where I belong. I always felt like I was alone, and the only person I had like me was my mother who was a horrible human being. Now, I know I'm not alone. I found my family. I found the people I was supposed to grow up with, and I found my soul mate. Christine was right, there's no better feeling than knowing you belong somewhere, and I belong right here with all of you guys." Erik looked over at Christine, and he was surprised to see she wasn't crying. Everything made her cry at that point in time. "I love you, Christine." Her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling, but even then her smile grew when he kissed the top of her foot.

"I love you too." She looked over at Meg, and she seemed zoned out on something, and Christine considered bugging her friend, but then decided to leave her be.

. x .

After her feet had some time to rest she and Erik returned to the dance area, where Erik held onto her and wouldn't let go no matter the reason. Unless she needed to pee, then he let go, because he wasn't going to be the cause of Christine peeing herself. Though he did go downstairs once or twice per her request… Those trips took a little longer than the others.

Everyone ate way too much cake and barbecue, Christine specifically, but Erik wasn't going to be pointing fingers since once the night came to a close, he was too busy carrying her. "Goodnight everyone, thank you so much for coming to our little elope at home or whatever Christine called it." He glanced at her passed out in the car to make sure she was still there.

"Thank you for inviting us. We know it was only because your last license had been voided, but thank you for letting us come to your wedding. It means a lot to us since it hasn't been very long since we started the process of getting to know one another." Erik hugged Rick, then Patricia who seemed sad that the night was over.

"It was our pleasure, and we invited you guys because we knew how important this was in terms of closing that gap, y'know? Christine actually pushed for it because I initially didn't think about that. She's helped me stay in check and reminded me how to act not like a piece of shit with you guys."

Rick patted Erik's arm while smiling. "You're not a piece of shit." Erik chuckled since he knew now that Christine was doing quite an amazing job at keeping him in check.

"I'm glad you think that. Anyway, I should get Christine home before she hurts her back sleeping in the car. Enjoy the ride home, be safe."

"Tell Christine we said goodnight, and you drive safely as well." Rick and Patricia waved before walking away, and Erik walked over to the car and got inside. Everyone else had left an hour or so earlier because of work or kids and all that fun stuff, so it was just the four of them sitting and talking until Christine started falling asleep.

"Are we going home?" Erik looked down at Christine, and she seemed vaguely aware of her surroundings.

"Yeah, we're going home." Erik turned the car on completely, and Christine sat her chair up so she was present for the drive. "You can go back to sleep if you want to."

"I'm good. I have plans for you when I get you home." Christine leaned her head on Erik's shoulder, and he couldn't help but smile.

The drive home was quick seeing that it was two in the morning, and amazingly enough Christine stayed awake the entire ride. She got out of the car, and once out of between the cars, she was scooped up making her squeal. She giggled and looked back at Erik before kissing him, and she undid his tie so she had less to do once getting upstairs. "I had so much fun today. My goal is to have even more fun tonight. You up for that challenge?" She squeezed his shoulders, and when Erik didn't hesitate to nod, she looked away to hide her smile.

They got upstairs, and once Erik unlocked the door he opened it up and carried Christine inside. She commenced the kissing, which Erik was all for, but he had a wedding gift he wanted to give her before the night started. "Baby one second I have something to give you." He set her down which cut off her neck kisses, and he tried to get his ability to think back as he walked over to the kitchen.

"Is it like a chilled butt plug or something? Because if it is, I love you, but no thank you."

"No it's not a chilled butt plug, weirdo." Erik opened the cabinets above the refrigerator, and he pulled down a packet of papers. "Happy Wedding Day… Or whatever it would be considered." Erik held the packet out for her, and she walked over and picked it up so she could see what it was.

After thumbing through the first three or four pages, her mouth dropped at the realization of what it was. "Erik-"

"I know you loved it so much, so now it's ours. We can go whenever we want." Christine eyed the purchase contract for the home they stayed in down in Australia, and she tried to push the knowledge of knowing how much he spent on her. She didn't even think to get him anything…

"Erik this is amazing. Thank you so much." She smiled and set the papers down on the kitchen counter, then pulled his head down so she could kiss him. "I can't wait to go down there again. Maybe we can sneak a trip in before the babies are here."

"Oh I love it when you talk dirty." Erik picked her up again as Christine bit at her bottom lip, and he proceeded to carry her into their room. "I hope your little power nap woke you up because I'm not going to bed until I know for sure this night sticks out above all our other nights." Erik set her down on the bed, and she gave him a quick kiss.

"Oh bring it on." She giggled when Erik growled before moving over her. "God I love you."

"I love you too." Erik rubbed her cheek before kissing it, then proceeded to trial the kisses down to her neck. Her eyes fluttered shut as she tried not to get too loud so soon, but with him it was a challenge not to. He knew how to make the littlest things feel like her earth was falling around her, and it was exhilarating.

However despite her efforts, he bit her neck, and she was done for.

 **FIN**


End file.
